How to charge the entry fee for your tournament or league online

If you organize a league, a tournament or a championship and want to charge teams or players an entry fee without handling anything by hand (bank transfers, tracking who has paid in a spreadsheet...), you can turn on online entry fee payments: every participant pays by card when requesting to join, and the money lands straight in your account.

What you can do with the entry fee

Entry fee payments run on Stripe Connect, the same payment technology marketplaces like Uber or Airbnb use to pay their sellers. The platform only acts as an intermediary:

• Price per competition: you decide the amount and currency; it only applies to the competitions where you want to charge an entry fee, the rest stay free.
• Secure card payment: participants pay through Stripe Checkout, so you never have to share your bank details with each of them.
• Automatic payout: the money from each entry is transferred straight to your Stripe account, minus a small fee (a fixed amount plus a small percentage) that the platform keeps for handling the payment.
• Automatic refund: if you reject a request that had already been paid, the money is refunded on its own, including the part already transferred to your account.

How to turn it on, step by step

1. Connect your payments account. From "My account" (or your organization's payment settings, if you organize under one), click "Connect with Stripe" and complete the onboarding: ID document and bank account. It takes about 5 minutes and only has to be done once.
2. Turn on manual approval. On the competition you want to charge for, turn on "Registration with organizer approval": this is a requirement, because the team or player is only created after the payment is confirmed.
3. Turn on the entry fee. Flip the "Entry fee" switch and set the amount and currency.
4. Share your competition link. When someone requests to join, they will pay the fee by card before the request reaches your management inbox.
5. Approve or reject each request. Approving creates the team, player or pair. Rejecting automatically refunds the payment.

Real-world example: a 7-a-side football league with 12 teams

An organizer sets up a 7-a-side football league and sets an entry fee of $30 per team. With an example fee of 5% plus a fixed $0.50, the platform keeps $2 from each entry, so the organizer's account receives $28 per team. With all 12 teams confirmed, the organizer collects $336, paid out automatically as soon as each request is approved, with no chasing bank transfers or tracking who paid in a spreadsheet. Two teams accidentally sign up twice: the organizer rejects each duplicate request and the payment is refunded on its own, with no manual refund to handle.

Tips for charging entry fees without surprises

• Set an amount that comfortably covers the fee: if the entry fee is too low to cover the platform's fixed fee, the system won't let you turn it on until you raise it.
• Check your Stripe account before opening registration: confirm that verification is complete (not "pending") so payments work from day one.
• Explain the payment in your competition rules: state clearly that registration is paid and what it covers, so nobody is caught off guard when requesting to join.
• Decide carefully when to require manual approval: charging only works with this mechanism turned on, so weigh it up if you previously had direct registration without approval.
• Reuse the same payments account: you can use your personal account across several competitions without an organization, or your organization's account for all of theirs, without connecting a different account each time.

Common mistakes when charging entry fees online

• Trying to turn on the fee without connecting Stripe first: the system will ask you to connect a payments account before you can save the amount.
• Leaving manual approval turned off: without it you can't charge a fee, because the payment must be confirmed before the team or player is created.
• Setting an amount at or below the minimum fee: the platform will warn you and won't turn on the fee until the price covers it.
• Not reviewing pending requests regularly: a request that has already been paid but nobody approves or rejects is left waiting; it's worth checking the competition's management page often while registration is open.

Paid entry fee versus free registration

Free registration (with or without organizer approval) remains available as always and is the default option for any competition. The paid entry fee is an optional layer aimed at organizers who need to cover real costs — venue rental, referees, prizes, equipment — and don't want to handle payments by hand. It's worth turning on only if you're going to require an actual payment to take part, not as a substitute for free manual approval when all you want is to filter who signs up.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a company to connect Stripe?

No. You can connect a personal account as an individual or a sole trader; Stripe Connect supports both cases.

What happens if I reject a request that had already been paid?

It is refunded automatically, including the part already transferred to your account. You don't have to handle the refund yourself.

Can I have free and paid competitions at the same time?

Yes. The entry fee is turned on per competition and doesn't affect the rest of yours.

Can I change the amount after publishing the competition?

Yes, you can edit the amount or currency at any time while registration remains open.

What if my competition has no organization, I just created it myself?

No problem: the money is still charged to your personal payments account, no need to create an organization.

How much fee does the platform keep?

A fixed amount plus a small percentage of the entry fee; the rest is transferred straight to your Stripe account.

Can I turn on the fee without turning on manual approval first?

No. The entry fee requires manual approval to be turned on, because the team or player is only created after the payment is confirmed.

Start charging your competition's entry fee

Create your competition for free and turn on the entry fee as soon as you connect your payments account. Create your free account or explore competitions to see how it works.