UPDATE: Draw for 2025 US Open Cup revealed, 110th tournament begins March 18
2025 US Open Cup Schedule/Results
US Soccer has released the format and list of all teams participating in the 2025 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup tournament proper.
Sixteen MLS teams will participate, doubling from the 8 that participated in 2024, but still not 100% participation as formats had in 2012-2023. MLS teams for this season and in 2026 will be limited to a maximum of 2 North American cup competitions in a given season. Those cup competitions are defined as Concacaf Champions Cup, Leagues Cup, US Open Cup, and Canadian Championship. This means that for US teams already qualified for Champions Cup and Leagues Cup, they will be excluded from the US Open Cup. MLS teams qualified based on the following criteria.
- Teams participating in Concacaf Champions Cup are excluded from the Open Cup
- Teams not participating in the 2025 Leagues Cup qualify for the Open Cup, ranked based on 2024 Supporters Shield Standings
- The next best teams in the Supporters’ Shield Standings that are not in the Concacaf Champions Cup will enter the Open Cup.
There are 27 USA based MLS teams playing in 2025, meaning 11 will not enter this year, and of those 11, only 8 will have reserve teams participating in their place. Atlanta United FC, Colorado Rapids, and expansion San Diego FC will not have any representation from their club in the 2025 US Open Cup.
This year’s format includes guaranteed home or away games for the round of entry for USL Championship and MLS teams, which will ensure a greater number of MLS and USL Championship teams on the road than in the vast majority of years for early round games, where the top 2 divisions have hosted 73% against lower league opposition in the last 3 Open Cups (2022-2024) for Rounds 2-4. For Round 3, exactly 50% of USL Championship teams will host and for Round 4 exactly 50% of MLS teams will host. This also enables the teams predetermined to host to market and sell tickets to the games well in advance.
The best 4 eastern conference teams and best 4 western conference teams based on the 2024 season standings will get guaranteed home games for the two leagues. This only applies in Round 3 for those seeded USL Championship teams and Round 4 for those seeded MLS teams. The other 8 USL Championship teams entering in Round 3 and the other 8 MLS teams entering in Round 4 will be predesignated as away teams, for just those respective rounds Starting in the Round of 16, hosting rights will be determined in a random fashion should both teams in a match want to host and have venues capable of hosting.
TheCup.us has also obtained a copy of the team handbook, which lists expectations for professional teams to use primary venues when possible unless a scheduling conflict prevents the use. If an alternate venue must be used, then the home team will be on the hook financially for any differences in the cost to broadcast the match from the primary venue to the alternate venue.
Primary venues are defined as the venue where the highest number of league matches for a team are played in 2025. Alternate venues must meet hard minimum capacity requirements along with standard venue requirements, while primary venues do not have such hard capacity standards, but still must meet the standard venue requirements. Venue requirements had always listed “minimum seating capacity that is appropriate for the scheduled match/round,” but this is the first time that those minimums have been enumerated.
Hosting fees have also completely reverted to the old fixed cost structure after a trial year using solely a percentage of ticket revenue from the Round of 32 to the Final to fund the costs of the tournament like prize money, referee payments, and travel reimbursements. However, They are slightly larger than when they were last used in 2023, and in the Round of 32 and Round of 16, MLS teams will pay more money to host those matches than the lower divisions will ($50k for MLS, $20k for lower league). Every other round is the same for every team, with hosting fees starting at $1,500 for Rounds 1 and 2, and increasing up to a minimum of $300,000 to host the Final.
Ticket revenue cuts will not be going away entirely though. Along with a fixed hosting cost, 20 percent of ticket revenue will be given as a hosting fee for the semifinals and final, but that amount is capped for those 3 matches. The Final, for example, will not take in more than $575,000 in total hosting fees (fixed cost plus ticket revenue).
Reserve teams will return again this year from MLS NEXT Pro, 8 of the league’s 10 teams. The two independent teams, Chattanooga FC and Carolina Core FC, will automatically qualify. The 8 reserve teams that will take part are determined based on the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season standings, with teams whose first-team affiliates qualified excluded from the competition.
MLSNP reserve teams are only allowed to use players signed to the MLSNP roster or the MLS first team’s SUPPLEMENTAL roster (roster slots 21 and above.) Senior team players, or roster slots 1-20, will not be allowed to be loaned down unless exceptional circumstances require it, with a max of 3 of those players, and only with approval from US Soccer.
NISA, who is still working on a season that won’t begin until at least April, has agreed with US Soccer to sit out the US Open Cup for 2025.
Professional Division Teams
Major League Soccer
16 teams
(All 16 teams enter in the Round of 32)
Teams marked with ^ seeded as hosts in Round of 32. Teams without marks are designated road teams in the Round of 32 only.
Austin FC ^
Charlotte FC
Chicago Fire FC ^
D.C. United ^
FC Dallas ^
Houston Dynamo FC
Minnesota United
Nashville SC ^
New England Revolution
New York City FC
New York Red Bulls
Orlando City
Philadelphia Union ^
Portland Timbers
San Jose Earthquakes ^
St. Louis CITY SC ^
USL Championship
24 teams
(8 * teams enter in the First Round and 16 ** enter in the Third Round)
Teams marked with + seeded to host in Third Round. Teams without the + but are marked ** are predesignated as away teams in the Third Round only.
Birmingham Legion FC*
Charleston Battery** +
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (2024 USLC Champion)** +
Detroit City FC** +
El Paso Locomotive*
FC Tulsa*
Hartford Athletic*
Indy Eleven** +
Las Vegas Lights FC** +
Lexington SC*
Loudoun United FC*
Louisville City FC** +
Miami FC*
Monterey Bay FC*
New Mexico United** +
North Carolina FC**
Oakland Roots SC**
Orange County Soccer Club**
Phoenix Rising FC**
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC**
Rhode Island FC**
Sacramento Republic FC** +
San Antonio FC**
Tampa Bay Rowdies**
USL League One
14 teams
(Enter in the First Round)
AV ALTA FC
Charlotte Independence
Chattanooga Red Wolves SC
FC Naples
Forward Madison FC
Greenville Triumph SC
One Knoxville SC
Portland Hearts of Pine
Richmond Kickers
South Georgia Tormenta FC
Spokane Velocity FC
Texoma FC
Union Omaha
Westchester SC
MLS NEXT Pro
10 teams
(Enter in the First Round)
Carolina Core FC
Chattanooga FC
Columbus Crew 2
FC Cincinnati 2
LAFC 2
Inter Miami CF II
Real Monarchs
Sporting KC 2
Tacoma Defiance
Ventura County FC
Amateur/Open Division Teams
(All 32 teams enter in the First Round)
NY Pancyprian Freedoms (EPSL / 2024 USASA National Amateur Cup Winner)
Soda City FC (South Carolina / UPSL Spring Champion)
Open Division Qualifying Round Winners
14 teams – winners from the four Open Cup Qualifying Rounds / Fall 2024
CD Faialense (Bay State Soccer League / Mass. / USASA)
FORO SC (Texas / UPSL)
Harbor City FC (Florida / UPSL)
Harpos FC (Colorado Premier League / Colo. / USSSA)
International San Francisco (San Francisco Soccer Football League / Calif. / USASA )
Laguna United FC (California / UPSL)
Miami United FC (Florida / UPSL)
Tulsa Athletic (Oklahoma / UPSL)
West Chester United SC(USL of Penn. / Pa. / USASA)
Virginia Dream (Virginia Super Soccer League / Va. / USASA)
Southern Indiana FC (Indiana / UPSL)
NY Renegades (New York / UPSL)
New Jersey Alliance (New Jersey / UPSL)
Washington Athletic Club (Seattle Recreational Adult Team Soccer / Washington / USASA)
National Premier Soccer League (NPSL)
7 teams – based on 2024 league play
Appalachian FC (North Carolina)
Duluth FC (Minnesota)
El Farolito (California)
FC Arizona (Arizona)
FC Motown (New Jersey)
Naples United FC (Florida)
New York Shockers (New York)
USL League Two
9 teams – based on 2024 league play
Asheville City SC (North Carolina)
Ballard FC (Washington)
Corpus Christi FC (Texas)
Des Moines Menace (Iowa)
Flatirons FC (Colorado)
Little Rock Rangers (Arkansas)
Long Island Rough Riders (New York)
Sarasota Paradise (Florida)
Ventura County Fusion (California)
2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Schedule
- First Round: March 18-20
- Second Round: April 1-2
- Third Round: April 15-16
- Round of 32: May 6-7
- Round of 16: May 20-21
- Quarterfinals: July 8-9
- Semifinal: Sept. 16-17
- Final: Oct. 1