Analysis: Minnesota United strives to get its usually fired-up audience to buy into the U.S. Open Cup

There’s a lot on the line for Minnesota United in its U.S. Open Cup semifinal matchup with Austin FC on Wednesday night. Goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair even had to catch himself when talking about the matchup on the heels of the team’s big win against San Diego on Saturday.

“Going into it, we kind of said that it’s almost two finals for us this week — or you could say two semifinals, I guess,” he said.

The Loons are playing a home semifinal for a major trophy for just the second time in their history. If they can beat Austin, they’ll play Nashville at Allianz Field in two weeks and hope to clinch the club’s first major trophy.

“It’s the possibility of playing a final in your own stadium, which I’m sure I’ll say to the players in the coming days — that’s not something that you necessarily get across a 10-, 12-year career at this level,” manager Eric Ramsay said. “So it’s a really unique opportunity and one that we’ve got to take advantage of.”

It’s one of the beauties of soccer, that there are playoffs in the middle of the season. It’s something the WNBA and NBA have started trying to replicate in their own schedules. It’s everything a Loons fan could want.

Isn’t it?

As of Tuesday afternoon, thousands of tickets remained unsold.

It remains confusing why Loons fans won’t bother to come out for the Open Cup, even though the team continues to prioritize the competition, and ownership continues to pony up for hosting fees — which could stretch to a total of almost a million dollars this season if Minnesota makes the final.

This has been something of a running theme throughout the tournament. The Loons hosted the round of 16 and the quarterfinals and ended up not opening up the full stadium, because ticket demand was so low. The eastern side of the stadium was closed off for both games, giving the games an undeniable pandemic feel.

Immediately following Minnesota’s 3-1 extra-time win in the quarterfinals against Chicago, Ramsay was already pleading for fans to come out for Wednesday’s game. “I think if it was full for the semifinal, it would be a real occasion, because cup games have a different feel to them,” he said then.

Tuesday, he was trying to balance that with sensitivity. “I can understand the context that goes with supporting a club in this league and how expensive it is and everything that goes with that,” he said. “But I think there’s been a real push [to sell tickets], and we’d love nothing more than there to be a full stadium. … More than most places I’ve been to across this league, we have that really special connection between players and crowd.”

In 2024, Major League Soccer tried to pull all of the league’s teams out of the U.S. Open Cup, eventually settling on a compromise in which eight teams entered, and nine more (including Minnesota) entered their second teams.

Longtime American soccer fans were incensed at the disrespect for a tournament that’s been running since 1914, making it the oldest annual tournament for team sports in the United States. Fans unfurled “SAVE THE CUP” banners in stadiums across the league, including in St. Paul.

St. Clair is waiting to see the results. “I think a lot of people talked about ‘Save the Cup’,” he said. “I think it’s a tournament that players definitely value, and it’s something we want to go and win. And I think if fans do feel that way and want to save the cup, they need to come and show up, whether it’s a first-round game or whether it’s a semifinal tomorrow.

“For me, the stadium should be packed. It’s one of our biggest games in club history, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be there. And I think we know that we’re going to need them for that extra support.”

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Allianz Field

TV; radio: Paramount+, 1500-AM

“I don’t think I could have dreamed that if I tried,” he said. “It was a dream start, and hopefully I can continue that tomorrow.”