Atlanta United fans did not shy away from expressing their displeasure with the recent changes to cup competition qualification adopted by Major League Soccer that has left their club with one less opportunity for silverware this season.
MLS announced on Jan. 28 sweeping changes to how its clubs will qualify over the next two seasons for the various cup competitions it participates in such as the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, Leagues Cup, Canadian Championship and Concacaf Champions Cup.
According to the announcement, the aim is for every MLS club to participate in at least one, but no more than two North American competitions in the same MLS season to help manage player workloads while still providing the performance reward that comes with tournament qualification.
Leagues Cup has been reduced from 47 teams to 36 so that an equal number of MLS and Liga MX teams can compete in the tournament. The top nine teams in each conference from the previous season qualify to make up the 18 MLS representatives.
The U.S. Open Cup changed to allow 16 MLS participants, up from eight in 2024. Any US-based clubs that are not competing in Leagues Cup automatically qualify for US Open Cup, the rest are determined by the previous season’s Supporters’ Shield standings, excluding teams competing in Concacaf Champions Cup.
Per the new rules, the only cup competition Atlanta United will participate in is Leagues Cup. The club has never made it past the first phase of the tournament since it began participating in 2023. Furthermore, 2025 will mark the first season that the Five Stripes do not participate in US Open Cup, the nation’s oldest national soccer competition. Atlanta United won the tournament in 2019.
“When I heard the news today about us going with the Leagues Cup versus the US Open Cup, I was very disappointed,” said Odette Stone, a season-ticket holder from the club’s inception. “The Lamar Hunt Open Cup has been in play for over a hundred years, you know? How do you step away from that? It’s literally the root of soccer in this country.”
Stone, like several Five Stripe fans, expressed a greater attachment to the history of US Open Cup over Leagues Cup which, despite pitting MLS against more challenging opponents from Liga MX, has only existed in its current form for two years.
“I’m always for more interesting, fun soccer games, but I think the Open Cup is just so rooted in tradition in the US and I think it’s very sad that we’re not in it. Especially since we’ve won it before,” said Nick Tewell, a season ticket holder and orchestra teacher at Sequoyah Middle School.
Tewell also commented that the Leagues Cup matches held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2024 against D.C. United and Santos Laguna “felt a little strange” especially with the remarkably poor attendance that was unusual for Atlanta United matches. Announced attendance for the match against D.C. United was 36,082, and against Santos it was 29,188. The average attendance for an Atlanta United match in 2024 was 46,831.
“If the fanbase was more into it then maybe it would be different, but it seems like people opt out of their tickets and people think ‘Oh, well this isn’t the league or the playoffs or like a semifinal or a final so maybe this isn’t as important,'” Tewell said. “I think it’s kind of on the league to get the fans interested in it a little bit more.”
Chris Jones, a founding member who moved to Atlanta from Chicago 30 years ago, said that he was unimpressed by both Leagues Cup and US Open Cup. He criticized the changes made over the years to US Open Cup, including the most recent modifications, as the main factor in declining interest in the tournament.
“Leagues Cup seems like a series of friendlies, not a true cup competition, and when you’re not putting all of MLS and all of the US in US Open Cup, it doesn’t seem like a true competition either,” Jones said. “So instead of one true competition, you have two that really don’t mean much of anything.”
Atlanta native Alex Vots said that he prefers US Open Cup, but criticized aspects of both competitions. He said he usually cannot attend US Open Cup matches when they are held at Fifth Third Stadium in Kennesaw because he lives on the south side of Metro Atlanta and usually has to take his children to soccer practice on the Wednesday nights that the games usually take place. Regarding Leagues Cup, he said he went to the game that Atlanta hosted in 2023, but that it was expensive and “wasn’t totally worth it.”
Regardless, he said that he would follow Atlanta United in any tournament the club is in.
“I’ll watch them if Atlanta United is in it, if Atlanta United is out of the tournament like Leagues Cup, I may watch it if I’m home and it’s on,” Vots said. “I’m not going out of my way to watch it.”
Vots said that he would like to see all MLS teams participating in Leagues Cup and for matches to also be played in Mexico. He also expressed being on board with the idea of converting Leagues Cup into a Europa League-style competition whereby it becomes the second tier of continental competition in Concacaf and involves North and Central American teams who just missed out on qualification to Concacaf Champions Cup.
What do you think about the changes to North American cup competitions? Let us know in the comments below.
| Get Atlanta United training ground updates, audio and video content you won’t see anywhere else, Discord access, and more. Support us on Patreon and help support independent soccer coverage here in Atlanta! Click here to start a 7-day free trial. |
It’s tough because a matchup against Monterrey should be more appealing for fans and economically viable for the club than a matchup against Rochester Rhinos. But its clearly proving very very tough to manufacture that excitement overnight.
One thing I will disagree with some fans on is the “easiest path to a trophy” argument for those in favor of the USOC . Personally, I dont care about that. And competition wide USOC attendance suggests not many fans do either until maybe the semi-finals.
I went to a Leagues Cup game last season and it sucked. Not just the game, but the whole atmosphere. It wasn’t an ATL UTD home game at all. The graphics were weird, the intros were weird, the whole thing was weird — and wrong.
I think we’re stuck with an LC game as the 18th game of the season ticket package, but I won’t go to another unless it’s the final.
Isn’t the League Cup the one where they cram everyone into two large groups and you play 3 random opponents from the other group? Then top 4 go through?
I hate that format.
I have mentioned in the past that I would much rather Atlanta participate to win the US Open Cup, but since we can’t compete in it, mind as well try to win the League Cup. But League Cup will definitely be harder to win then the US Open Cup
Seems like MLS is deliberately diluting the Open cup by not allowing the best teams to compete in it – they are being assigned to the Leagues cup, which seems to be treated by most as a series of friendlies as was noted in the article.
Agreed, I will again, not be spending any money to attend Leagues Cup. I continue to want it to simply go away