Allianz Field will look a little different for Minnesota United’s Leagues Cup match on Tuesday.

A few more seats might be empty and the decibel level might not be as high as usual. The Wonderwall supporters’ group sections on the stadium’s south end won’t have as many flags waving, nor many people leading chants.

In response to MLS limiting the amount of teams participating in the U.S. Open Cup this year, the Loons’ largest supporters group, the Dark Clouds, has said it will not participate in organized match-day activities for Leagues Cup and “a lot” of its members have opted out of attending the tournament game against Mexican club Necaxa.

The Dark Clouds also did not host an official watch party for the Loons’ 2-0 loss at Seattle in the Leagues Cup opener Friday.

“It’s been very frustrating to see the league deprioritizing the Open Cup in favor of the Leagues Cup,” Dark Clouds president Meagan Weber told the Pioneer Press in an interview last week. “It seems like they’re making it a this-or-that (situation) and not a yes-and (situation). Why can’t we have both of them, if we’re going to do it?”

In December 2023, MLS planned to take all of its teams out the U.S. Open Cup — a 110-year-old national tournament between clubs of all levels. Commissioner Don Garber called the Open Cup “a very poor reflection of what it is that we’re trying to do with soccer at the highest level.”

Schedule congestion was another stated reason to pull out, but last year MLS opened up one month in the MLS schedule to play the new Leagues Cup tournament with clubs in Mexico’s Liga MX. MLS set aside another month for Leagues Cup this summer.

With U.S. Soccer’s involvement, MLS ended up putting eight of its teams in the Open Cup. Based on poorer finishes last season, MNUFC had to enter its developmental team, MNUFC2, in the tournament. It lost in the second round.

MNUFC declined to respond to three questions from the Pioneer Press about how the club is responding to fans’ comments and concerns about the Leagues Cup/Open Cup issue. The club also declined to share how it might pursue first-team inclusion in next year’s Open Cup.

The Loons hosted three Leagues Cup games last season, with announced attendance of at least 18,100 for each match. The club said Friday similar attendance numbers were tracking for Tuesday’s match.

Dark Clouds has 1,200 current members, and Weber said: “We know that a lot of our our folks have opted out of their Leagues Cup tickets. So there won’t be a ton of us there, at least not the usual suspects.”

The board of Wonderwall — an umbrella organization for supporters groups such as the Dark Clouds, True North Elite and Red Loons — meet with leaders of MNUFC on a quarterly basis.

“We’ve been expressing our frustrations since then, and obviously, because it’s a league decision and not a club decision … all they can really do is take that and pass it along,” Weber said. “But, I mean, (the club) definitely seemed like they heard us.”

Weber said the Open Cup holds a special place in her heart. She became a Loons fan 10 years ago when the club was in NASL and she cheered for upsets of MLS sides. She said it was “super fun” when USL Championship side New Mexico United traveled to St. Paul for an Open Cup quarterfinal in 2019.

“It helps to grow the game,” Weber said. “It helps introduce us to supporters in other leagues. It grows those relationships, but it also just grows the game of soccer in the U.S.”

Red Loons, which describes itself as MNUFC’s “left wing,” said last week it will “boycott” as a “show of solidarity for the U.S. Open Cup (and) we encourage others to not attend matches, if you are similarly inclined.”

True North Elite shared a statement with the Pioneer Press. As a “group made of up free-thinking individuals,” TNE said it values the Open Cup and has “disdain towards the MLS’ decision, (but they) do not feel comfortable making any finite Leagues Cup decision for our members.”

“… However, in solidarity with our cohorts in the Wonderwall and (other supporters groups) around the country, we will not be organizing match-day activities as usual, but rather let things be as they will. Meaning that if members want to go watch live soccer, so be it. TNE supports people doing whatever the hell they want and supporting the boys in black and blue.”

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