Wednesday’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final (7 p.m., TICKETS) is highly prestigious in its own right, being the oldest cup competition for soccer and the oldest annual team sports tournament in the nation. Yet its potential impact for the Houston Dynamo goes beyond simply adding one more trophy to the cabinet.
The winner of the U.S. Open Cup also earns a spot in the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League, the top club competition in North and Central America and the Caribbean. The new format for the competition would place the Dynamo directly into the knockout rounds in Spring 2019.