The 2nd edition of the Leagues Cup, a month long World Cup style tournament featuring 29 MLS and 18 Liga MX teams kick-offed on Friday night with 5 group-stage matches. The two-league competition, won by Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in it’s inaugural year, grants it’s champion with not only a significant pay-out, but a spot in next season’s CONCACAF Champions Cup as well, enticing players and clubs to approach the tournament with seriousness.
So why are Supporters Groups across the league boycotting Leagues Cup, and why do many of the fans still planning to attend matches look at the tournament through a lens of disdain and skepticism?
Why the hate for Leagues Cup?
To be completely honest, I don’t remember many initial reactions that came from the introductory announcement of Leagues Cup. I do remember people being intrigued by top MLS and Liga MX sides facing off yearly in MLS stadiums, but it was also met with skepticism centered around how players and teams would handle another competition thrown into their season on top of the number of games they’re already scheduled to play, especially considering the depth – or lack there of – that MLS rosters posses.
And then, MLS and Don Garber tried to push the US Open Cup, the longest running soccer tournament in North America, to the wayside by pulling MLS sides out of the tournament and replacing them with MLS NEXT Pro teams. That proposal was rejected, but at the end of the day only 8 MLS first-teams entered this year’s competition, with Houston Dynamo being the only team that also qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup to compete for the 2024 Open Cup trophy.
It’s clear to fans that Don Garber and MLS is prioritizing money over the tradition of Open Cup play, and they don’t like it very much.
Fan Protests
Earlier this week the Sons of Ben, Union’s official Supporters Group, released a statement detailing their plans of involvement in 2024 Leagues Cup matches. The group’s leadership communicated that the protests being held by Supporters Groups across the league is something that’s been in discussion since late February between members of the Independent Supporters Council (ISC).
So what’s the plan from the Sons of Ben Leadership? Since tickets to the opening game against Charlotte are already included in Season Ticket Member’s plans, the SoB’s will show up to Subaru Park on Saturday night, make their way to their seats, watch the first 20 minutes and 10 seconds (the time being significant as 2010 was Union’s inaugural season in MLS), and then Capos and Game Day crew will leave the Capo stands and the River End for the remainder of the tournament.
The Sons of Ben have included in their statement that members are free to protest whatever way they see fit, and don’t necessarily have to make the trip to Chester just to leave 20 minutes later – or protest at all!
“We invite any SoB or Union fan to join in. You can decide leave the stadium, just sit in your seat, or maybe just stop singing and waving flags. You may also continue to to attend and support throughout the tournament. In the following games, we invite all to watch or listen to the games from the SoB lotted Union Yards if they want to support the team and not the tournament (there will be no official tailgates)”
As I said earlier, the decision to boycott Leagues Cup in the honor of the US Open Cup was one made by numerous groups of numerous teams across the league including Austin Anthem of Austin FC, The Red Line of Chicago Fire, Bucket Hat Brigade, Red Loons and Dark Clouds of Minnesota United, and 7 supporters groups out of St Louis (Fleur de Noise, St Louligans, STL Santos, No Nap City Ultras, St Louis City Punks, The Thieves, and No Goal Patrol).
Interestingly enough, one of the only Supporters Groups to make a statement in support of Leagues Cup, was Columbus Crew’s Nordecke, one of the groups that played a large part in keeping the Crew from moving to Austin during the #SaveTheCrew movement.
Even more interesting, is that the decision from the Supporters Group doesn’t seem to entirely represent members of the Nordecke and their mentality around how Leagues Cup effects the US Open Cup.
Action from Day 1
Despite fan protests and boycotts, there are still games to be played! And I have to admit, night 1 reminded me that competition between MLS and Liga MX teams are…actually pretty chaotic and entertaining…even if crowds are on he lighter end. Night 1 saw Orlando take care of Montreal by a score of 4-1 in front of a pretty light crowd.
Things didn’t look much better down in Atlanta as they took on DC United, which I personally find humorous as Don Garber used bad attendance at Atlanta’s Open Cup game (which was held in Kennesaw, GA, by the way) to his advantage in a press conference previewing Leagues Cup. Are we sure bad attendance during Open Cup is in fact an Open Cup thing???
That being said, there were a few decent crowds on Friday night. Seattle took care of Minnesota United at home in front of a somewhat healthy crowd, though much lighter than a typical MLS match held a Lumen Field.
LAFC and Tijuana actually had a nice crowd Friday night, as LAFC took care of the Xolos by a score of 2-0. I expected LAFC’s crowd to be one of the fuller ones from Friday night, as LAFC have one of the best fan bases in MLS and Tijuana being just a 3 hour drive from Los Angeles.
One of the most surprising results of the night, was Austin FC’s 3-1 win over Pumas while playing down a man. Not only was the result a shock, especially with Austin playing the entire 2nd half down a player, but the crowd looked half-way decent as well for a club with Supporters Groups actively boycotting Leagues Cup.
Austin’s Dani Pereira was asked about the boycott prior to their match on Friday night, where he expressed that he hopes the “real ones(fans) come”, and that they “are a big part of this, not just our team and the players”. I think this comment was blown out of proportion a bit. I don’t think Dani Pereira completely understands the dynamic between Leagues Cup and US Open Cup, and I’m betting it’s more about a professional athlete wanting to play in front of his team’s fans – what Athlete wants to play to an empty crowd?
Regardless, his comments do make me wonder how Union players will react to Leagues Cup boycotts and protests from fans. Like I’ve just said, I don’t think anyone wants to play in front of an empty crowd. But it’s clear that Union are taking this competition seriously and hope to make another deep run like they did last season.
“This is another competition where we would like to go as far as we can and repeat from last year.”
-Daniel Gazdag
And with both the large payout ($2 Million for the winner of Leagues Cup as opposed to $300k for the winner of US Open Cup) and a sport in next season’s CONCACAF Champions Cup on the line, why wouldn’t teams take Leagues Cup seriously?
But that’s ultimately the line many fans are having an issue crossing. Is everything in MLS always going to be about money? Are we ready to trash the longest-running competition in US Soccer because it doesn’t make people as much money as they’d like?
I’ll end this article with a great moment from CBS Sports’s Alexis Guerreros, who shared his thoughts on the future of the US Open Cup, and the responsibility MLS should take over the tournament as the United States top flight of soccer.
“You’re only caring about yourself and MLS, you’re not caring about the greater good for US Soccer. As a first division, you have some responsibility to US Soccer – you’re driving the value of the lower leagues, you’re driving the value of the players of the lower leagues in this country. But if you’re simply saying “well it’s not driving value for us”, that means your bottom line is no being fed enough, and that’s not a good enough reason to not be apart of a completion that existed before you and I hope will exist after you.”
Mandatory Credit: Philadelphia Union
