GOAL follows Lamar Hunt, a key figure in US esports who owned the Kansas City Chiefs and helped found MLS.
The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup takes place each season in the United States and there is a lucrative prize for the team that emerges victorious.
Not only will the winning team receive $300,000 in prize money, there will also be a spot in the following season’s CONCACAF Champions League, which will feature teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
But who is Lamar Hunt, the man the competition is named after? GOAL brings you everything you need to know.
Who is Lamar Hunt?
Lamar Hunt was an American businessman best known for his contributions to the promotion of sports in the United States, particularly soccer, American football and tennis.
He was born on August 2, 1932 in El Dorado, Arkansa. He made his fortune through his family’s oil business. Driven by his great love of sport, he began investing in various teams and competitions from the 1950s.
His first sporting venture began in American football when he formed the American Football League (AFL) with a group of businessmen in 1959. Hunt’s team was the Kansas City Chiefs, which he founded and owned until his death in 2006.
After witnessing the 1966 World Cup in England and spending time in Ireland, Hunt began building soccer leagues and teams and helped found the NASL before eventually becoming one of the founders of Major League Soccer.
He was the owner of a number of football franchises including Dallas Tornado in the NASL, Columbus Crew, Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting Kansas City) and FC Dallas. Hunt died on December 13, 2006. He was 74 years old.
In addition to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, the Lamar Hunt Trophy in American Football’s AFC championship game was also named in his honor.
“There’s a reason the US Open Cup is named after Lamar Hunt, and that reason is that without his efforts, American football wouldn’t exist in the form we know it,” he says GOAL‘s US soccer expert Ryan Tolmich.
“Hunt was one of several owners who helped found the North American Soccer League in the 1960s, and even after that league collapsed he remained steadfast in his support of American soccer. When MLS started playing in the ’90s, he bought two franchises, the Columbus Crew and Kansas City Wiz, before then funding a third team, the Dallas Burn.
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“Under his leadership, the crew made American soccer history by building their own stadium in 1999 and becoming the first MLS team to play in their own soccer-specific stadium. A quick look at the league shows how far MLS and American football have come.” 29 teams in two countries now compete against each other.
“Many of these teams now have their own stadiums to call home and Hunt’s efforts are vital not only to the survival of American football but to its progress.”
“Without Hunt, MLS might not have survived those early years, and without Hunt the league, even if it did, would never have thrived as it has over the past 25 years. Because of that, Hunt is one of the most important.” I believe in American football, and that belief has helped shape the sport into what we know today.”
What is the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup?
The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is a knockout cup competition played between soccer teams in the United States. Its origins date back to 1914 when it was known as the National Challenge Cup and was renamed in honor of Lamar Hunt in 1999.
The tournament features football teams from across the United States, with different leagues represented. In 2023, 100 teams took part in the competition.
Maccabee Los Angeles and Bethlehem Steel are the most decorated teams in US Open Cup history with five titles each. However, MLS teams have dominated since the league’s inception in 1996, which is perhaps understandable.
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