Liga MX and Major League Soccer announced Tuesday that they will participate in a revamped Leagues Cup that will be held in 2023. This Cup will include every league's team.
The tournament will see 47 teams, including 29 from Liga MX and 19 from MLS, pause their season for a month to participate in it. It will consist of a group phase, followed by a knockout round. Although many details are still being worked out, it is expected that the tournament will include a substantial prize-money component.
- ESPN+ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more (U.S.)
- Watch ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. Only)
- Do you not have ESPN? Get instant access
The latest example of increased cooperation between Liga MX and MLS is the revised Leagues Cup. The revised tournament was approved by CONCACAF in an effort to increase the visibility of both the organizations and the sport ahead the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted jointly by Mexico, Canada and the U.S. The Leagues Cup is an official competition of CONCACAF Champions League. The winner of the Leagues Cup will automatically be admitted to the CCL round of 16. The CCL's first round will be open to the second- and third-placed finishers.
Don Garber, MLS commissioner, spoke exclusively to ESPN about his efforts to capture interest in the USA-Mexico soccer rivalry. "Now we are authenticating it and making it an official CONCACAF competition. Our confederation realizes that increasing club competition between our leagues will only help the sport grow. This is an important priority for all North American soccer stakeholders as we move towards the 2026 World Cup.
Mikel Arriola is the executive president of Liga MX. He stated to ESPN that "what we wanted, together, was to increase our teams in America considering we have 60 million supporters here. It was important for us to increase the presence of all teams, not just the large teams or the mid-sized ones. We wanted to increase our presence and we also wanted to grow together with MLS, considering their solid governance model and solid commercial model. We know we can work together to generate more football development in the region.
Fixture congestion is one of the main concerns regarding the expanded tournament. Liga MX's schedule is a little more flexible because the tournament can be delayed so that the Leagues Cup can begin in July or August. Arriola stated that the Copa MX would not be played.
For MLS, teams will have to manage the U.S. Open Cup as well as the CONCACAF Champions League.
Garber said about fixture congestion, "We felt we addressed that by taking breaks in our schedules and prioritizing the particular competition as something that is unique from our respective regular season." "We have an extremely long season and so many competitions take place within our seasons. To create something new and exciting, I believe we are innovative and willing to take risks at a crucial time in the evolution and development of the sport.
The CCL has been won 17 times by Liga MX teams since 2002 when it was reinstituted as a two-legged format. Only nine times has MLS won in 51 matchups between Liga MX and MLS teams. Garber and Arriola are not part of this history.
Garber pointed out how the CCL schedule, which is the majority of the MLS season's MLS season, did not favor the league's team.
Garber stated, "This places everyone on equal footing and should provide both an incentive as well as a backdrop for competition between our leagues."
Arriola said, "I believe that [imbalance] does not last forever, but it is possible to overcome it." Everybody can win. Our teams are keen to win in the U.S. considering that it will provide a new source for income for approximately 14 of our league teams. These are incentive to raise the tournament's level, I believe.
Liga MX has experimented previously with various interleague tournament formats including the now-defunct SuperLiga, which was held between 2007 and 2010. Liga MX and MLS became closer in 2018 when the Campeones Cup was introduced. This match pitted the two current league champions against one another. The Columbus Crew will host Cruz Azul in this year's edition on September 29.
The Leagues Cup was created in 2019. This year's final will feature the Seattle Sounders FC against Club Leon. It will be played at Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas on September 22. Both leagues were represented in the most recent MLS All-Star Game.
The partnership between the leagues will not only extend to the field, but Liga MX and MLS will also form a joint venture to license international media rights for the tournament. Soccer United Marketing and MLS will include the Leagues Cup in their new media rights agreement. It is expected to start in 2023. However, it is not clear if the tournament will be bundled with regular-season matches.
CONCACAF made a larger announcement regarding the future structure and format of the Champions League. 18 North American clubs will be eligible, with the Leagues Cup winner and MLS Cup winner as well as Liga MX winners (the details of which team will be revealed later). They will then move directly to round 16. Six Central American clubs will be qualified, with the winner from the newly formed Central American Cup moving straight to the round 16. Three Caribbean clubs will be eligible, and the winner of The Caribbean Cup will also move directly to the final 16.
