Next year, the 2020 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup could be played over six months running from March through September.

Today, the US Soccer Federation has announced the 2020 US Open Cup schedule and format of the competition. For the first time since 2006, Major League Soccer (MLS) teams will not all enter in the same round of the competition and will instead be split up nearly 50-50 between starting in the Third Round and the Fourth Round. This will result in more matches between MLS and lower division competition over the course of the early rounds of the tournament.

Eleven MLS teams will enter in the Third Round:

Chicago Fire FC

Colorado Rapids

Columbus Crew SC

FC Cincinnati

FC Dallas

Houston Dynamo

Inter Miami CF

Nashville SC

Orlando City SC

San Jose Earthquakes

Sporting Kansas City

Twelve MLS teams will enter in Round 4. The four CONCACAF Champions League participants plus the next four best teams each from the Eastern and Western Conference based on the 2019 league standings. For 2020, the 12 MLS teams entering the Fourth Round:

Atlanta United FC

D.C. United

Los Angeles FC

Los Angeles Galaxy

Minnesota United FC

New England Revolution

New York City FC

New York Red Bulls

Philadelphia Union

Portland Timbers

Real Salt Lake

Seattle Sounders FC

The remaining professional teams from Division II (USL Championship) and Division III (USL League One, and NISA) will all enter the Second Round of the competition. The teams will be announced after the professional team deadline of Dec. 31, 2019.

In another major change to the tournament schedule, the First Round will be played on March 24-25, 2020 with all Open Division teams participating.

This includes the Open Division Local teams, and most notably, all of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) and USL League Two teams. This will create a problem because NPSL and USL-2 teams overwhelmingly rely on college players. According to NCAA rules, current college players (excluding seniors who will graduate in the spring) are not allowed to play for an outside team before May 1, unless the game falls during Spring Break or some other school-sanctioned vacation period.

Teams that rely on the use of college players will need to come up with different or additional players to participate in cup competitions. It’s even possible for NPSL and USL League Two teams to play three Open Cup matches before their regular season kicks off in May.

The remaining Open Division teams are the local qualifiers that have already been determined for the First Round next March. The NPSL and USL League Two allocations and qualified teams will be determined on Jan. 9, 2020.

The 13 Local Qualifiers (including the 2019 USASA Amateur Cup Champion Newtown Pride FC)

Cal FC (USASA/UPSL, California)

Christos FC (USASA/Maryland Majors Soccer League, Maryland)

Chula Vista FC (USCS/SoCal Premier League, California)

FC Boulder Harpos (USSSA/Colorado Premier League, Colorado)

Louisiana Krewe FC (USASA/Gulf Coast Premier League, Louisiana)

Miami United FC U23 (USASA/UPSL, Florida)

Nashville United (USASA/Middle Tennessee Soccer Alliance, Tennessee)

Newtown Pride FC (USASA/Connecticut Soccer League, Connecticut)

New York Pancyprian Freedoms (USASA/Cosmopolitan Soccer League, New York)

NTX Rayados (USASA/North Texas Premier Soccer Association, Texas)

Olympic Club (USASA/San Francisco Soccer Football League, California)

Vereinigung Erzgebirge (USASA/United Soccer League of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania)

Virginia United (ANFEEU/Woodbridge Soccer League, Virginia)

While the entirety of the format of the competition has not been announced by US Soccer, TheCup.us has made a projection on the format and allocation of slots for each league.

2020 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Competition Schedule

Jan. 9 Pairings methodology, Open Division berth allocation announced

Jan. 22 First Round pairings announced

Jan. 29 Second Round pairings and possible pairings announced

March 24-25 First Round (Open Division teams enter)

April 7-9 Second Round (Division II and III teams enter)

April 10 Third Round Draw

April 21-23 Third Round (11 Division I teams enter)

April 24 Round of 32 Draw

May 19-20 Round of 32 (remaining 12 Division I teams enter)

May 21 Round of 16/Quarterfinal Draw

June 10 Possible Round of 16

June 23-24 Round of 16 or Quarterfinals

July 14-15 Quarterfinals or Semifinals

Aug. 11-12 Semifinals or Final

Sept. 22-24 Possible Final