MLS teams will NOT compete in the US Open Cup from 2024 onwards, the league announces… with development clubs to replace them in the nation’s oldest soccer tournament in bid to reduce fixture congestion

Major League Soccer has announced that MLS teams will not participate in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for the foreseeable future.

Instead, the MLS will allow its development teams to participate in the league starting in 2024.

Clubs from the MLS Next Pro division, the third tier of American soccer, will compete in the country's oldest tournament, which has been played since 1914.

According to The AthleticsThe measure is an attempt by MLS chiefs to reduce crowding on the playing field after Los Angeles FC played a record 53 league games in 2023.

The last US Open Cup was won by the Houston Dynamo, who prevailed over a Lionel Messi-less Inter Miami at the DRV PNK Stadium in September.

The last US Open Cup was won by Houston Dynamo after they defeated Inter Miami

Speaking at the US Soccer Board of Directors meeting in May, MLS Commissioner Don Garber called the US Open Cup “a very poor reflection of what we are trying to do with soccer at the highest level.”

However, Garber's tone had seemingly changed when he spoke at a league press conference last week, where he expressed a desire for unity across the entire landscape of U.S. domestic soccer.

'I made these comments because I believe that if we want our professional teams to compete in a tournament that is the oldest tournament of its kind, we must embrace it all – from our federation to our respective leagues – and give it the opportunity to raise its profile and give it the support it needs,” Garber said of his previous comments in May.

“If that doesn't work, we all need to come together and decide that a new plan needs to be put in place.

“I want to say that since the last US Soccer board meeting, I am pleased that our league group and US Soccer have worked together and worked on ways to develop the US Open Cup so that it can be more valuable to everyone. That process is ongoing.'

The decision to pull MLS teams from the US Open Cup did not go down well with fans on social media, who expressed outrage after discovering that Next Pro teams will replace them in the competition.

Fans took to social media to express their outrage at Major League Soccer's decision

'Big league football is a joke. Don't spend a single dollar on it,” said one fan.

“Sad, actually,” said another. “Don Garber and Major League Soccer want to kill everything they don't own.”

'MLS has decided that its teams will not participate in the 2024 US Open Cup. Instead, the reserve teams will participate. This is a new low for Major League Soccer,” said another outraged fan.

'Imagine the outrage if Premier League clubs withdraw from the FA Cup. Unbelievable.'