After much confusion and reporting, the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will indeed go forward as the nation’s oldest soccer competition continues unabated into its 109th all-time edition.
Only eight senior Major League Soccer clubs will participate, while 11 others will be represented by their MLS NEXT Pro youth squads. The agreement was reached to have partial top flight participation after Major League Soccer threatened to pull all its clubs as they look to navigate the installment of the Leagues Cup as part of the league’s regular schedule.
As a result, lower league clubs have never had a better chance to emerge with a historic Cup title since the inception of MLS in 1996. Since that time, only two lower league clubs have ever won the U.S. Open Cup crown, the last being the now-defunct Rochester Rhinos in 1999.
The Sporting News brings you a look at the 2024 U.S. Open Cup schedule, as well as where to access all the games, with every single match of the competition available to stream online or access on TV.
MORE: Why are only a few MLS clubs participating in the 2024 US Open Cup?
All matches of the 2024 U.S. Open Cup will be broadcast for fans to watch, as U.S. Soccer hopes to increase the tournament’s visibility and show MLS that it can be sustainable through the future.
Full broadcast details of the entire tournament have not yet been announced, but it was revealed that all First and Second Round matches will be streamed on the official websites of U.S. Soccer, Major League Soccer, and USL. Likely, as the later rounds arrive, U.S. Soccer will lean on their rights deal with Turner Sports for much of the tournament’s coverage..
The idea of this is to give lower league sides matches with greater visibility while enjoying the chance to generate upsets.
For the first time since 2008, the U.S. Open Cup will be formatted so that the First Round is made up exclusively of matchups between professional teams against amateur clubs. Expanding that concept further, all MLS clubs will be forced to match up against lower-league opponents until that is no longer possible based on other restrictions.
MORE: A full list of all clubs qualified for the 2024 US Open Cup and what round they enter
If the selected match isn’t stated below as being shown on USLSoccer.com, then it will be shown on either USSoccer.com, or MLSSoccer.com.
* Georgia Lions forfeited their opening round fixture against Apotheos FC after being unable to fulfill the fixture