Breaking: New England Revolution Officially Will Not Play In U.S. Open Cup

“It remains a great honor for Major League Soccer to participate in the tournament."

USSoccer.com/Kyle McCarthy

The New England Revolution will not be participating in the 2024 U.S. Open Cup.

U.S. Soccer announced on Friday that only eight MLS sides will be participating in the 2024 tournament while 11 representatives from MLS NEXT Pro will be participating (9 MLS second teams and two independent sides). The MLS clubs will enter in the Round of 32 while MLS NEXT Pro sides will enter in the First Round.

The changes to MLS’ participation are specifically for 2024 and a working group will look at what the future of the tournament looks like for 2025 and beyond.

"First and foremost, I want to extend my sincere gratitude to all our members for their invaluable input over the past couple of months— sharing with us of the reasons the U.S. Open Cup is so great, and what we can do to make it even better,” said U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson. “After extensive discussions, we have put together a competitive format specific to the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, promising exciting matchups from the First Round and through the entire tournament. U.S. Soccer values the tradition and importance of the U.S. Open Cup, and we will continue to have conversations with all our members to explore avenues for enhancing future editions of the tournament and how we all work together to grow soccer in every community in the country.”

ESPN’s Jeff Carlise was the first to report that only eight MLS sides would be in the tournament. The Blazing Musket was the first to report that it was looking unlikely that New England would be involved. Along with the first team, Revs II also will not be participating in the tournament.

“It remains a great honor for Major League Soccer to participate in the tournament,” Nelson Rodriguez, MLS Executive Vice President of Sporting Product & Competition said. “It's a valued tournament by our clubs and by fans. I'm glad that U.S. Soccer has been able to format the tournament in a way that is satisfactory.”

Easing schedule congestion and the overall load on players was a factor into the decision to only have eight MLS sides participate. The league also wants to provide more opportunities for games of consequence for teams and players in MLS NEXT Pro.

“I've always been a big supporter of the competition,” said Peter Vermes, Chief Soccer Officer and Manager of Sporting Kansas City. “I love that it's open but I do think that it has needed improvement for many, many years.”

Part of that improvement is a greater investment from U.S. Soccer and improvements in the financials for host clubs and away travel. Some hosting fees have been eliminated while host clubs will retain more ticket revenue than in previous years. Travel reimbursements will also be increased in 2024.

But the dream of seeing New England lifting another Open Cup Trophy will have to wait at least one year. This could either be the re-birth of a brand new Open Cup tournament or the beginning of the end for the most historic trophy in American soccer.