Us Open Cup / Mls Cup Hybrid

sbrylski

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Apr 24, 2014
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My brainwashed American mind is still struggling to process the fact that we have two knockout tournaments each year - the MLS Cup Playoffs and the US Open Cup. They seem quite redundant, and it seems like it would be relatively easy, on paper, to combine the two into one super tournament. It would have the added benefits of increasing the value of the Supporters Shield, as there would be no more MLS-only postseason trophy, and it would also please some of the pro/reg supporters, as now every team in the country is eligible to win the most prestigious tournament trophy each year.

So here's my proposal:

The US Open Cup runs much the same way it currently does, except it happens a little bit later in the year. In addition, MLS teams are not added to competition when it reaches ~16, but rather when it reaches 8.

The 8 teams from the lower levels that make it thru Round 6 are then split between East Qualifiers and West Qualifiers and added to the Eastern and Western Conference Playoffs against MLS teams.

In the first round of the playoffs, the bottom four teams from each MLS conference take on the four qualifiers in their region from the US Open Cup in a single elimination game.

The winners move on to the second round to face MLS teams 5-8 from their conference in another single elimination game.

Finally, the winners from those games move on to the third round, where the top four teams from each MLS conference are introduced. From here on out, the games are two legged, sans the championship game.

In bracket form it looks like this:

br1uPsD.png


The single leg games in Round 1 and Round 2 could be played within one week, so Round 3 could start about a week and a half after the MLS regular season is over.

The biggest challenge with this idea is how to handle Canadian teams. I assume we would also need a merger between the Voyagers Cup and the US Open Cup, so every team in the US/Canada is treated the same for the purposes of this tournament. I have no knowledge of the politics that would be in the way to getting that done.

Anyway, this is just a fun idea I played around with this morning. Thoughts?
 
Not gunna lie, that was tl;dr

But the difference is that US Open is open to other leagues and MLS Cup is the MLS title.

It would be like saying they should meld the SEC football championship and the national championship into one thing. Not going to happen.

Even though I'm an MLS fan, I'd like to see at least NASL rise up and get on even footing to MLS clubs.

Then the US Open cup would really shine and serve as a de facto true national title.
 
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My brainwashed American mind is still struggling to process the fact that we have two knockout tournaments each year - the MLS Cup Playoffs and the US Open Cup. They seem quite redundant, and it seems like it would be relatively easy, on paper, to combine the two into one super tournament. It would have the added benefits of increasing the value of the Supporters Shield, as there would be no more MLS-only postseason trophy, and it would also please some of the pro/reg supporters, as now every team in the country is eligible to win the most prestigious tournament trophy each year.

So here's my proposal:

The US Open Cup runs much the same way it currently does, except it happens a little bit later in the year. In addition, MLS teams are not added to competition when it reaches ~16, but rather when it reaches 8.

The 8 teams from the lower levels that make it thru Round 6 are then split between East Qualifiers and West Qualifiers and added to the Eastern and Western Conference Playoffs against MLS teams.

In the first round of the playoffs, the bottom four teams from each MLS conference take on the four qualifiers in their region from the US Open Cup in a single elimination game.

The winners move on to the second round to face MLS teams 5-8 from their conference in another single elimination game.

Finally, the winners from those games move on to the third round, where the top four teams from each MLS conference are introduced. From here on out, the games are two legged, sans the championship game.

In bracket form it looks like this:

br1uPsD.png


The single leg games in Round 1 and Round 2 could be played within one week, so Round 3 could start about a week and a half after the MLS regular season is over.

The biggest challenge with this idea is how to handle Canadian teams. I assume we would also need a merger between the Voyagers Cup and the US Open Cup, so every team in the US/Canada is treated the same for the purposes of this tournament. I have no knowledge of the politics that would be in the way to getting that done.

Anyway, this is just a fun idea I played around with this morning. Thoughts?


That was pretty impressive!

But I think soccer is very different from other sports. I do like both cups but with a few scheduling changes.
Nonetheless, I hope MLS folks read your post for ideas.
 
Not gunna lie, that was tl;dr

But the difference is that US Open is open to other leagues and MLS Cup is the MLS title.

It would be like saying they should meld the SEC football championship and the national championship into one thing. Not going to happen.

It's definitely a little different than the SEC comparison. College football championship games are played in order to determine a season champion and is necessary because of the unbalanced schedules. I would compare it to a hypothetical final game between the two MLS conference champions for the Supporters Shield.

In addition, the college football championship games are indirectly part of the national championship playoffs, in that if you lose your conference championship game, you are highly unlikely to make the national championship semifinal.

The MLS Cup playoffs are very unique in soccer and don't make a ton of sense other than to get that late season excitement. Given we already have a national knockout tournament, I thought it would make sense to combine the two. It would also free up dates and schedules to expand the CCL a little bit, in some form or the other.

So your conference standings would be differentiated like this:

m1czSxZ.png


This is if we up CCL berths from 4 to 6. If it stays at 4, just give them to the top two.