A Call for a Canadian Open Cup

Jonah Freedman of MLSsoccer.com may be onto something - though it has been a topic of discussion for a long while - with his feature column about expanding and opening the Amway Canadian Championship into an event more like the US Open Cup. The question behind the scenes over the years has been: "Can we create an Open Cup in Canada?" Politics and the same financial realities the American version faces were the main roadblocks over the years, particularly before Major League Soccer grew over the border.

With Toronto FC came a desire from the then lower division Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps to continue to show that they are just as good, despite the technical designation of the league. The three clubs, having built themselves to a professional capability on and off the field far superior to those in the other Canadian and Canadian-American leagues, came together, with the revamped CONCACAF Champions League on the horizon, and created the Canadian Championship. That event, obviously, has evolved with Vancouver and Montreal moving up to MLS while FC Edmonton was also founded.

But four years later, the question still remains. Can Canada, with a lot of fan and, seemingly, corporate support, finally expand the nation's championship event and make it open to all levels of the sport?

Incentivizing the US Open Cup for casual fans

The Seattle Sounders have made the US Open Cup a must-see competition for fans to attend. Now, the Philadelphia Union may be onto something else that could help bolster support for the event when they make their tournament debut later this spring.

The club has a “Loyalty Rewards” program that awards season ticket holders for just about everything. Obviously, the main portion of the points distributed to fans is for match attendance, but the system also rewards fans for watching road games and attending additional team-related events in the community. The best feature in the program is the variety of points awarded for home matches, rewarding fans that attend games that are midweek and/or against less popular opponents with more points than weekend fixtures against the most popular sides.

Reward fans who support both | @FCDallas Facebook

Though the story does not specifically mention US Open Cup contests, one would have to expect that if the Union play host to a game in the tournament, its fans would be able to receive a high value in points for going to the midweek contest against what is likely to be a lower division opponent.

Since the club has not qualified for the tournament in its brief history and has a fervent fan base, one would assume that the club would draw well regardless of the presence of the rewards system. However; for the good of the tournament, it is great that a program like this is in place in Philadelphia and being explored by many other teams around the league.

If it is not obvious at this point, I clearly like this program. And, I am glad to hear there is vast interest in it being duplicated around the league, and around the world.

My hope: that it is expanded to a co-operational, multi-national program led by MLS, the USSF and the CSA that includes the lower divisions, the women’s game and, most importantly, communities that do not have professional clubs. There are a lot of casual fans that I think could be converted into more loyal supporters of the game if there was a reason not to shrug off attending a lower division game or international friendly in their own back yard – there are certainly enough empty seats available.

There is no reason why loyal Sounders fans should not also be rewarded for being league fans that watch all MLS matches or attend a game between Chivas USA and FC Dallas at the HDC while in California for a Disney adventure with the kids. Season ticket holders for Toronto FC that attend every game should be able to buy discounted CSA match tickets and people who buy tickets to youth national team friendlies should earn credit toward their favorite pro club.

Sometimes players are forced to choose between club or country – there is no reason why fans should have to do the same.

At the very least, Major League Soccer should develop a league-wide program to drive support of the game nationwide instead of just a handful of the biggest cities. It would certainly be a great way of gauging potential expansion support as well as developing the soccer culture in places that need a boost.

CSA confirms 2011 NCC schedule

The Canadian Soccer Association has announced a new format for the Nutrilite Canadian Championship along with its 2011 schedule. For the first time, the competition will now feature four teams, with FC Edmonton added to the existing group of Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Impact Montréal. The old round-robin format has been replaced by the combination of a home-and-away semi-final stage along with a home-and-away championship final.   Full Release +