How MLS obscures the truth behind its withdrawal from the US Open Cup

Sending only some teams to the 111-year-old competition shows that MLS increasingly only cares about parts of the game it can control

For the second year running, Major League Soccer will break with standard practice by sending only a portion of its teams to its federation's domestic cup competition, the US Open Cup. But unlike last year, the move comes without significant uproar or repercussions from the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) which runs the tournament.

Tuesday's Open Cup news was part of a larger announcement, detailing which MLS teams would be taking part in which tournaments outside the 2025 MLS regular season and playoffs. These tournaments include the US Open Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup (the confederation's championship), Leagues Cup (MLS's joint venture with Mexico's Liga MX), and Canadian Championship (The Open Cup equivalent for Canada).