U.S. Soccer released the details for this year’s edition of the U.S. Open Cup.
A total of 94 teams ranging from MLS all the way down to local amatuer clubs will participate in the tournament. The competition will begin on May 9 and end with the final some time in the month of September.
Of the 94 participating clubs, 52 are amateur teams from the Premier Development League, National Premier Soccer League, and various local amateur leagues throughout the country.
There are a few notable changes from last year’s event.
First off, successful teams will receive more prize money from the federation for making deep runs into the tournament. The winning club will now receive $300,000, up from $250,000 last year, while the runners up get $100,000. Teams that advance furthest from each of the lower divisions will also receive $25,000, up from $10,000 in previous years.
The federation will also contribute more money to travel costs for teams at all levels.
The draw for the first round will take place on April 4 and will determine the matches between the 52 Open Division teams. The 22 eligible USL teams will join the fray in the second round on May 16 and MLS comes in for the fourth on June 6.
Teams will be grouped geographically through the round of 16 to cut down on travel costs for lower league teams.
USL teams that are owned or operated my MLS clubs are not eligible for the tournament.
Making USL teams play two rounds before MLS enters to that there’s only 12 teams left to take on 20 MLS teams is so gross. Four all MLS games right off the bat and limiting the pool of Cinderellas to just 12 teams sucks, not to mention USL teams like Cincy set record crowds when they host MLS teams.
i love this tournament from amateur to pro. i have a suggestion. in future, let prize money go all the way down to amateur/round 1. (make it fun for everyone.) let each first round victory be worth x, each round 2 victory be worth 2x, etc. the prize money doubles each round all the way up to the cup final. because the last 8 teams will be all mls yeah? so spread the money around more and let every club have the chance to win a prize in this tournament.