Setting up your own sweepstake for anything

Not everything is a listed tournament. A works darts night, a quiz league, Eurovision, the office bake-off — if it has competitors and a winner, you can run a sweepstake on it.

Setting it up

Go to New competition → Something else. Choose the closest sport, or Other and type what it is. Then choose the format that matches how your event is decided:

• Straight knockout — people go out one at a time or round by round, until there's a winner. Most things fit here.
• League table — everyone's ranked at the end.
• One-off event or race — one go, a winner and some placings.
• Group stage, then knockout — groups first, then sudden death.

The format can't be changed afterwards, so pick carefully.

Add the competitors

On the competitors tab, add them one by one or with Paste field. Seeds are optional but make the draw fairer if some competitors are clearly stronger.

Points

Check Points per round on the Results tab before you start. Knockout formats come with sensible defaults. League and one-off formats score nothing except the winner until you set them. More on points.

Running it

Add members, run the draw, share the public page, and enter results as they happen. The guides for knockouts, leagues and one-off events go into more detail.