US Open Cup 2024 TV Schedule USA
The US Open Cup TV schedule provides the timing and TV information for each game in the competition.
Officially known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the nation’s oldest open-style knockout competition is actually quite historic. Only the FA Cup and Scottish Cup are older competitions that follow this format.
The format of the U.S. Open Cup invites any organized soccer team affiliated with U.S. Soccer. This is a single-game knockout competition featuring 103 teams as of the 2022 competition.
U.S. Open Cup TV schedule
After a few seasons of easy viewing with the entire tournament on ESPN+, the new US Soccer rights deal with Turner Sports has complicated things for the Open Cup.
2023 has seen only a selection of matches each round officially streamed. Rounds one and two had eight games each streamed on the Bleacher Report Football YouTube page and app. In round three, a few additional games were added on the CBS Sports Golazo Network, a free streaming network available on CBSSports.com, Pluto TV, as well as on Paramount+. Games not officially streamed by US Soccer are left to the teams themselves, which makes for a patchwork of locations to find games, if they are streamed at all.
With the rise of Major League Soccer over the last 15 to 20 years, the teams from America’s top flight have something of a stranglehold over the competition. Non-MLS clubs making the final have been rare occurrences. In 2008, USL side Charleston Battery reached the final, eventually losing to D.C. United. Interestingly, Charleston knocked off two MLS sides, and Seattle Sounders in its last year in USL. 2022 saw the Sacramento Republic make a cinderella run before falling to Orlando City in the final.
The last time a non-MLS side won the competition came in 1999. The Rochester Rhinos defeated the Colorado Rapids, 2-0. The Rhinos rebranded as Rochester New York FC, and moved to the division 3 MLS NEXT Pro league in 2022. Sadly, after just one season in the new league, they folded just weeks before the start of the 2023 Open Cup, resulting in a forfeit of their scheduled match. Truly it is somewhat similar to the FA Cup, which saw its last non-EPL side in a final in 2008 as well. However, the last non-top-flight side to win the FA Cup was West Ham United back in 1980.
Watching the U.S. Open Cup
As noted above, watching the Open Cup in 2023 can be a little confusing, with a myriad of platforms streaming the games.
The silver lining is that, as of April 2023, games are all free to watch. Be it official streams on Bleacher Report and CBS Golazo, or team streams via YouTube or other platforms, you can catch the games with no cost attached.
Courtesy of World Soccer Talk, download a complimentary copy of The Ultimate Soccer TV And Streaming Guide, which features details on where to watch all of the leagues from around the world on US TV and streaming.
To find out when soccer games are on, download the free Soccer TV Schedules App which includes listings of all of the live soccer matches available in the United States (available on Apple iOS devices and Android devices).