The United States Soccer Federation announced it has ruled against allowing Major League Soccer (MLS) to remove its first teams from the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and replace them with teams from its developmental league, MLS Next Pro.
"Major League Soccer has requested to allow MLS Next Pro teams to represent MLS in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. After thoughtful consideration, we have informed MLS that the U.S. Soccer staff recommendation, which was adopted by the Pro League Taskforce, is that the request be denied," USSF said in a statement.