It was a breathtaking sight to see unfold at Lumen Field on Saturday. No, it wasn’t about the Seattle Sounders getting torn apart by LAFC. That’s become commonplace now. However, empty fan seats aren’t something that’s regularly associated with one of the most well-supported fan bases in MLS. It seems MLS fans and the Leagues Cup don’t mix well.

And yet they were on camera. There were hundreds of empty seats in the Emerald City fan section and thousands more in the rest of the stadium. This was not a camera trick. The Sounders’ announced crowd for the quarterfinal against LAFC was 19,643, more than 10,000 less than the Sounders’ usual average.

Philadelphia Union faced a different problem: watching an opponent turn Subaru Park into enemy territory. Union’s attendance is down due to a poor season, but the fan group Sons of Ben organized a Leagues Cup boycott and the rest of Philadelphia fans followed. When Union faced Cruz Azul, they saw a loud, boisterous stadium – packed with fans of the Mexican giants. When Union moved into the knockout rounds, their opponents didn’t bring nearly as many fans, leaving Subaru Park almost empty. Even though Philadelphia is still in the running for the Cup, Union fans don’t care.

And then there was the New England Revolution, where the Midnight Riders simply issued a statement against the tournament rather than an organized boycott. Fans still got the message: The Revs drew 7,267 against New York City FC. These aren’t the days when the Revs struggled to draw 15,000 to Foxborough. New England now averages nearly 28,000 fans during the MLS season.

One thing is clear: the fans’ boycott of the Leagues Cup had an impact on the tournament.

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The Leagues Cup feels like a tournament created specifically for fans of Liga MX teams

No matter how much MLS commissioner Don Garber tries to push this tournament, fans and especially fan groups aren’t buying it. Some have tried to argue that the boycotts were ineffective because attendance was better than the US Open Cup, but that’s the wrong comparison.

The US Open Cup is not comparable because the league was never closed for it like the Leagues Cup is. If you decided to attend a US Open Cup game, you did so in the middle of the week. There was usually another game on the Saturday, and if not because your club was on the road, there was one the next Saturday.

That’s not the case with the Leagues Cup. The MLS is completely shut down for the period, giving fans the choice of either going to games they don’t want to see or stopping their support for a month. The league also regularly plays on weekends and during the week, and yet many fans have chosen to do something different when there was nothing else going on.

St. Louis City was a prime example. Although it is a young franchise with little US Open Cup experience, St. Louis is still a soccer city with an understanding of history. It drew about 5,000 fewer fans to the Leagues Cup than it normally does to the group stage. And after the formal boycott ended, little changed. St. Louis fans stayed away and Club America took over the stadium, resulting in a sea of ​​yellow.

League and fans at a dead end

MLS has shown no signs of backing down. Most importantly, the tournament remains a source of money for the league. Even though there are plenty of embarrassing numbers and the level of play doesn’t impress everyone, MLS still makes money from Mexican fans who come to the U.S. to watch their teams. Liga MX remains very popular with Mexicans living in the country. When MLS fans don’t come, Liga MX supporters do.

The Leagues Cup boycott remains an issue that will likely resurface a year from now. The league can get players and coaches to get involved with the Concacaf Champions League carrot, but it can’t get fans to get involved.

If MLS persists in continuing to damage the U.S. Open Cup, it will further strain its relationship with its most loyal fans.

PHOTOS: IMAGO