Staging a sports tournament is not an inexpensive enterprise. Even a small tournament in your local community can rack up costs in a hurry. Determining your entry fee ahead of time will make it easier to plan a tournament and make it an enjoyable experience for fans, players, coaches and officials alike.
How do you calculate the entry fee you need to charge? An entry fee should consider all of the costs associated with running the tournament. The total cost should be divided by the number of teams that are participating in the tournament to come up with the fee.
Costs associated with a tournament typically come from these sources:
Location rental
Reserving any venue – even open fields at a city park – costs a fee. Plan ahead and figure out how much space you will need for your sport and whether you need to reserve indoor or outdoor space. Renting a location in advance can sometimes reduce the overall rental fee.
Food and drink
Spectators who come to watch the tournament are going to get hungry and thirsty. You will need to provide food and drink to these spectators. You can lower the cost of these items by getting local businesses to provide food and drink at a reduced rate in exchange for advertising at the tournament.
Equipment
Playing with the proper equipment is necessary. You have to have game clocks, nets, hoops, balls and so forth — and few of these things are free.
Referee fees
Sometimes you can enlist volunteers to referee tournament games. Most of the time, it is necessary to pay referees for their time – especially if they are going to work long hours over several days and multiple games.
Prizes
If your tournament plans to award trophies, medals or cash prizes to the best teams, an entry fee will have to account for those costs.
PlayDriven offers plenty of tournament organizing resources. Our experts can show you how to get resources for a better value at a lower cost. Consult with us before organizing your next tournament.