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This week, the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States – the US Open Cup Betting – gets underway. The tournament dates back to 1913-14, when it was called the National Challenge Cup, and the Brooklyn Field Club won the inaugural trophy.
This year’s event has less MLS participation than earlier years, as the country’s top division will only send 16 teams – those sides that are not in the CONCACAF Champions Cup or the Leagues Cup.
The format is a direct elimination format, where 32 amateur teams face 32 lower division professional clubs. The winners advance to the second round against USL teams. Most MLS clubs start in the third round in April, with options to send their developmental team.
There are 32 first-round matchups running from March 18-20. Let’s take a look at what’s going on in the first round and talk about how to manage your sports betting for this event.
US Open Cup Betting Odds: Round 1 Preview, Top Picks & Format
Who’s in the first round?
We have 64 teams in this round, and here is the breakdown:
Pro teams
- 24 from MLS Next Pro / USL 1
- 8 from USL Championship
Amateur teams
- 9 USL League Two teams
- 1 National Amateur Cup champion
- 1 UPSL Spring Champion
- 14 local qualifiers
- 7 National Premier Soccer League teams
US Open Cup Betting the first-round Schedule
Tuesday, March 18
- Hartford Athletic vs Shockers (6:30 pm ET)
- Miami FC vs Naples United (7:00 pm ET)
- NJ Alliance vs Chattanooga Red Wolves SC (7:00 pm ET)
- Sarasota Paradise vs FC Naples (7:00 pm ET)
- West Chester United vs Loudoun United (7:30 pm ET)
- Motown vs Westchester SC (7:30 pm ET)
- Asheville City vs Greenville Triumph (7:30 pm ET)
- Texoma FC vs Foro (8:00 pm ET)
- Tulsa Athletic vs FC Tulsa (8:30 pm ET)
- AV Alta FC vs Ventura County Fusion (10:30 pm ET)
- L.A. Galaxy II vs Laguna United (10:30 pm ET)
Wednesday, March 19
- Columbus Crew 2 vs N.Y. Renegades (6:00 pm ET)
- Chattanooga vs Corpus Christi (6:30 pm ET)
- Inter Miami II vs Miami United (7:00 pm ET)
- Appalachian vs One Knoxville SC (7:00 pm ET)
- Richmond Kickers vs Virginia Dream (7:00 pm ET)
- Sporting KC II vs Des Moines Menace (7:30 pm ET)
- Lexington SC vs Southern Indiana (7:30 pm ET)
- Little Rock Rangers vs Birmingham Legion (8:00 pm ET)
- El Paso Locomotive vs Harpos (9:00 pm ET)
- Real Monarchs vs El Farolito (9:30 pm ET)
- Monterey Bay FC vs Inter San Francisco (10:00 pm ET)
- LAFC 2 vs FC Arizona (10:30 pm ET)
- Ballard vs Spokane Velocity (10:30 pm ET)
Thursday, March 20
- Portland Hearts of Pine vs Faialense (6:30 pm ET)
- South Georgia Tormenta FC vs Harbor City (7:00 pm ET)
- Forward Madison FC vs Duluth (7:00 pm ET)
- Rough Riders vs Charlotte Independence (7:00 pm ET)
- Cincinnati 2 vs NY Pancyprian Freedoms (7:30 pm ET)
- Carolina Core vs Soda City (7:30 pm ET)
- Flatirons Rush vs Union Omaha (9:00 pm ET)
- Tacoma Defiance vs Washington AC (10:00 pm ET)
How should you bet on the U.S. Open Cup?
Sportsbooks don’t offer action on the opening round. You have amateur teams taking on lower-division pro teams, and there is just too much uncertainty in some matchups – and too little value in others.
So let’s focus on finding the right futures action, such as teams that might win the championship.
Picks to Win the U.S. Open Cup
Historically, top-division pro teams rarely participated in the U.S. Open Cup. The NASL did not compete, and since the MLS started in 1996, its teams have won every edition except 1999, when the Rochester Rhinos (A-League) triumphed, defeating four MLS teams, including the Colorado Rapids 2-0 in the final.
We don’t have futures odds on the cup winners yet – we probably won’t have that until the third round at the earliest, and they might not show up until the round of 32 in early May, when we see MLS teams enter for the first time.
- The second round (April 1-2) will feature the 32 first-round winners.
- The third round (April 15-16) will feature the 16 second-round winners plus the other 16 USL Championship teams.
The Round of 32 (May 6-7) will feature the 16 third-round winners and these 16 MLS teams:
- Austin FC
- Charlotte FC
- Chicago Fire FC
- DC United
- FC Dallas
- Houston Dynamo FC
- Minnesota United FC
- Nashville SC
- New England Revolution
- NY City FC
- New York Red Bulls
- Orlando City SC
- Philadelphia Union
- Portland Timbers
- San Jose Earthquakes
- St. Louis City SC
After that, the tournament will progress in single-elimination bracket format with no new additions. Here’s the remainder of the schedule:
- Round of 16 (May 20-21)
- Quarterfinals (July 8-9)
- Semifinals (September 16-17)
- Final (October 1)
To Keep an Eye
The exclusion of MLS teams who have advanced to such top tournaments as the CONCACAF Champions Cup makes handicapping the last five rounds more interesting than usual. You’ll want to keep an eye on how these 16 MLS teams handle the first third of the regular season; inconsistent teams tend to find trouble against spirited competition from lower-division teams in this competition.
Consider such statistics as possession time passing accuracy, ratio of shots on goal to total shots, and goals allowed per game. The differential in talent and speed between MLS teams and the lower divisions, even the developmental teams, should be significant, but the vagaries of soccer mean that a team can possess for much of a match but fail to put enough balls in the back of the net to stop a team that benefited from a fortunate bounce in the early going. This is also a single-elimination tournament rather than a series of two-leg aggregate ties, which means that your favorites don’t have that second match to make things right.
As with any sports betting situation, you’ll want to do careful research on these matchups once sportsbooks start offering odds on this tournament. The differences among division level and the lack of comparability in terms of statistical outcomes and form make this a tournament that could offer significant value if you think you can find imbalances. Just make sure that you’re not betting too heavily on an underdog lower-division team that happens to come from your town.
FIRST ROUND DAY ONE | #USOC2025 pic.twitter.com/u8iBTfFbhd
— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) March 14, 2025
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US Open Cup Betting Odds, Round 1
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