For many the question may sound like a hopeful musing of a fan; however given the potential for the Seattle Sounders to win US Open Cup this presents an interesting dilema.

With the new CONCACAF Champions League (CCL), the winner of the US Open Cup receives a Qualifying Round berth in the subsequent year's tournament. On the surface this seems innocuous, however when you consider that this year's USL Sounders will terminate after the USL season to make way for the MLS Seattle Sounders FC, we now have a situation.

The question is simple, would the MLS Sounders inherit the USL Sounders' CCL Qualifying Berth or will USA Soccer determine that, as a new club, they have no claim to it.

Already one of the USL Sounders' best players ever, Sebastien Le Toux has signed with the new club. I would not be surprised if the MLS Sounders picked up a couple more players from that club if they perform well this year.

There have been many cases where a club has qualified for a tournament one season then, through the wheeling and dealing of the transfer market, presented a very different club in the competition. One need only look to England for concrete examples, every year relegated teams are divested of their better players while promoted teams beef up their squads for the new challenges.

In essence, Seattle's ascension to MLS is in part due to their success as a USL franchise, for this reason their transformation is similar to a promotion, and for this reason I support Seattle Sounders FC (MLS) receiving the CCL berth if the Seattle Sounders (USL) win the Open Cup.