Major League Soccer and Liga MX clubs had previously played in the
North American SuperLiga, which ran from 2007 to 2010. Both leagues also send clubs to the CONCACAF Champions League, which has been dominated by Mexican clubs, and the
Campeones Cup, a single match played between the winners of the
MLS Cup and the
Campeón de Campeones. MLS and Liga MX announced a new partnership in March 2018 to create the Campeones Cup and explore options for other bi-national competitions between their clubs. The Leagues Cup tournament was announced on May 29, 2019, featuring eight teams in its inaugural edition to be played during the summer. The
MLS Players Association also expressed concerns over the tournament's creation on the basis of schedule congestion during the summertime.
Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada was later announced as the host venue for the final and a broadcasting contract for the tournament was awarded to
ESPN and
TUDN (formerly
Univision Deportes Network). This event was also televised on
TSN and
TVA Sports in Canada and
Televisa in Mexico. In July 2019, MLS and Liga MX announced that the second edition of the Leagues Cup in 2020 would feature 16 teams—eight from each league. The MLS participants would be drawn from the top four teams in each conference that do not qualify for the
CONCACAF Champions League; the Liga MX participants would include the 2019 Apertura champion, 2020 Clausura champion, the
2019–20 Copa MX champion, and the next five best-placed teams in the 2019-20 season aggregate table the league. The tournament was canceled on May 19, 2020, amid the
COVID-19 pandemic. The eight-team format debuted in the
2021 Leagues Cup, which was played in August and September. In the final at
Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, Mexican club
León defeated
Seattle Sounders FC, the first American finalist in the competition's history. On April 14, 2022, MLS and Liga MX announced the
2022 Leagues Cup Showcase, which was held starting August 3, 2022, at
SoFi Stadium in
Inglewood, California. The event included a doubleheader of matches:
LA Galaxy against
C.D. Guadalajara and
Los Angeles FC against
Club América. On June 30, 2022, it was announced that the Leagues Cup Showcase was expanded to include three more matches—
FC Cincinnati against C.D. Guadalajara at
TQL Stadium in
Cincinnati,
Ohio;
Nashville SC against Club América at
Geodis Park in
Nashville, Tennessee, on September 21; and
Real Salt Lake against
Atlas F.C. at
Rio Tinto Stadium in
Sandy, Utah, on September 22. The events served as a one-time replacement of the previously planned 2022 Leagues Cup which was not held due to fixture congestion from the
2022 FIFA World Cup and other factors. The Leagues Cup was expanded in 2023 to include all MLS and Liga MX clubs, during a month-long pause in their respective seasons. It also became a qualification tournament for the
2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup with three berths for teams from
North America. The Leagues Cup champion qualified directly to the round of 16, while the runner-up and third-place finisher earned round one berths.
Inter Miami CF won the first edition of the expanded tournament in
2023, led by top goalscorer
Lionel Messi. On January 28, 2025, Major League Soccer announced that they would only send 18 representatives to the Leagues Cup for 2025 as part of their new competition guidelines, which only allowed teams to play in at most two cup competitions. Most of the teams in the
2024 MLS Cup playoffs qualified for Leagues Cup; the
Vancouver Whitecaps, as winners of the
2024 Canadian Championship, had their place forfeited and given to expansion club
San Diego FC.
Criticism The addition of the Leagues Cup and subsequent schedule congestion led Major League Soccer to announce their intention not to field senior teams in the
U.S. Open Cup, the domestic cup competition for the United States. The announcement was met with "widespread anger and condemnation" and the proposal was rejected by the
United States Soccer Federation. A hybrid plan with eight MLS participants and
MLS Next Pro reserve teams as replacements for the remaining teams was used for the
2024 U.S. Open Cup. Several Major League Soccer
supporters' groups have announced boycotts of the Leagues Cup. ==Format==