CARSON, Calif. – U.S. Soccer announced the format and the participating clubs for the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday.
The winner of the 2017 Open Cup will earn $250,000 in prize money as well as a berth in the 2019 edition of the CONCACAF Champions League. The tournament runner-up receives $60,000 in prize money and the highest advancing team from each lower division will take home $15,000 each.
The tournament will kick off on May 10th with 28 matches played by 56 open division clubs from the lowest leagues in the United States: the PDL, NPSL, and local qualifiers. The victors will then move on and face off against the 24 eligible clubs from the NASL (six teams) and USL (18 teams) on May 17.
Round three will take place on May 31 with the winners of the preceding rounds. The Galaxy and the 18 other eligible clubs from Major League Soccer enter the tournament in the fourth round on June 14. A total of 13 teams from MLS will face off against round three victors, while six teams will play against one another.
The Round of 16 will take place on June 28, the quarterfinals on July 11th, and the semifinals on Aug. 9th. The U.S. Open Cup championship game be held on Sept. 20.
