Sports League Management Software
A Strategic Guide
The life of sports league administrators sounds fun in theory. In reality, things can be really hard.
Managing a sports league means managing people. That’s never easy. And, on top of that, there are a lot of complicated logistical issues to navigate: registrations, rosters, schedules, and – maybe worst of all – communication. How can league admins keep everyone in the loop and everything running smoothly without losing their minds?
Sports league management software is built to help.
In this guide, we’ll take a comprehensive look at software. We’ll cover questions like:
- What does sports league management software do?
- What’s the best sports league management software?
- How much does sports league management software cost?
- How does sports league management software help with registrations?
- How does sports league management software help with scheduling?
- How does sports league management software help with communication?
- How can I get started with sports league management software?
Our goal is that, by the end, you’ll have a better understanding of what sports league management software does, what options are available, and how your organization might be able to benefit.
Ready? Let’s do this.
What does sports league management software do?
At a general level, sports league management software does exactly what its name suggests: it helps admins to manage sports leagues.
Tactically, this usually boils down to several specific functions:
- Communication management (through email alerts, text messaging tools, etc.)
- Scheduling management
- Registration management (usually online, although some platforms incorporate written document management)
- Personnel management (coaches, volunteers, staff, etc.)
- Team information management (records, rosters, team websites, and more)
Until a few years ago, pretty much all of these administrative activities were carried out in ad-hoc spreadsheet systems – or even just on paper. But the past decade has given rise to a selection of software tools that have helped to streamline league management significantly.
Let’s take a look at a few of the leading options.
What’s the best sports league management software?
Today, there are a number of sports league software platforms available. Here are a few of the leading options.
1. OntheBall Sports
The platform is broad and robust, with communication tools, registration tools, scheduling tools, and more that make managing sports league easy. Best of all is the focus on customer service – the system is set up for you and you have the option of ongoing admin support.
Pros
- The software is intuitive and easy-to-use, even for non-techies.
- Robust feature set.
- Personalized support options and outstanding customer service.
Cons
- User base is not as broad as market leaders.
2. EZFacility
EZFacility is built to help with league management through simplified scheduling and management of fields, courts, leagues, tournaments, teams, coaches, memberships, and more.
Pros
- It’s proven in a lot of contexts (They’ve been in business since 2003).
- It’s free.
Cons
- The core of the software is built for facility management. While it offers substantial league management capabilities, they aren’t necessarily the core focus.
3. SportsEngine
SportsEngine is part of NBC Sports Group. It’s built to be one place for sports league volunteers and staff to go to in order to run sports organizations. The solution features integrated tools and services and allows personnel to work together to promote programs, organize events, create rosters, send bills, and share information.
Pros
- Very robust feature-set.
- Built to make league management a team activity.
Cons
- Phone support can be difficult to access.
4. TeamSnap
TeamSnap, as its name suggests, is built for sports team management. It’s intuitive, easy-to-use, and has built a reputation based on serving coaches and players well. They traditionally haven’t focused on leagues as much as on single teams, but that’s evolved over the last few years. The league version of TeamSnap is meant to handle registration, scheduling, communication, payment collection, website creation and more.
Pros
- It’s intuitive and easy-to-use.
- They have a broad user base.
Cons
- The league management software isn’t the company’s primary offering.
5. Sports Connect
Sports Connect came about when Blue Sombrero’s software was purchased and rebranded by Stack Sports. The software is geared for sports league management and offers a robust feature set: website builders, registration management (geared for mobile), youth sports management tools, and more.
Pros:
- Robust functionality.
- Mobile registration focus.
Cons:
- The company is in a bit of transition which may impact customer support.
How much does sports league management software cost?
Sports league admins have hard jobs – and, to make things more difficult, they’re often working on relatively tight budgets. Understandably, cost is one of the most common questions around sports league management software.
A lot of admins ask this question:
Is sports league management software free?
The short answer is that yes, sports league management software providers do offer some options that are (ostensibly) free. TeamSnap, for example, has a free signup option – but it’s really only for a single team. Full league signup will cost you around $70 per team. This model is standard across software options.
Most often, to get the functionality your league really needs, you’ll have to signup for a paid version of a software option.
One route to cover the costs of software: league administrators can incorporate fees into league registration payments. For example, OntheBall Sports PLUS requires $10 per registration. If registration is increased by $10 per player, the cost to league administrators is essentially free.
How does sports league management software help with registrations?
If you do pay for sports league management software, you’ll quickly be able to reap the benefits through an array of helpful features. One of the most game-changing features is registration management.
Sports league management software:
Makes collecting registrations easy.
Instead of spreadsheets and cumbersome paperwork, registrations can be collected online. Players can signup from anywhere at any time; you won’t have to worry about someone forgetting their forms and missing a deadline.
Makes processing registration payments easy.
Instead of collecting checks or cash, payment processing can happen seamlessly online.
Makes organizing and accessing registrations easy.
Registrations won’t live in a forgotten drawer in an office. They’ll be available from anywhere with an internet connection. So, if information needs to be changed or updated, no need to drive from the field to the office to make it happen.
It’s worth noting that the best sports league management software solutions allow for paper registrations and physical payments (cash and checks) to be processed into the system, too. So, if a family needs to pay in cash or if you want to have signup forms on-hand at an event, you can easily incorporate those things into the software platform.
Click here to read more about how sports league management software can help with registrations.
How does sports league management software help with scheduling?
Another immensely helpful feature of sports league management software is scheduling management.
League schedules are complicated because there are a ton of factors impacting them. Facility availability, volunteer availability, weather and more all impact scheduling – and the more teams and people involved, the harder things get.
Sports league management software:
Makes generating schedules easy.
Software solutions can use data to generate ideal schedules. No more unintentionally double-booking a facility or giving one team too many late start times.
Makes changing schedules simple.
Of course, even the best schedules get changed. Weather, lack of player availability, and countless other factors can require games and practices to be shifted. Sports league management software enables the reorganization of schedules as changes come up – but, maybe even more importantly, software tools make communicating the changes easy.
Click here to read more about how sports league management software can help with scheduling.
How does sports league management software help with communication?
Managing communication may be the most challenging job that league administrators face. There are so many people involved in making a sports league happen: volunteers, coaches, parents, players, paid personnel like trainers, refs, umpires, and more – keeping everyone in the loop can seem impossible.
Honestly, before software solutions were available, sports league communication was nearly impossible. Not anymore, though. Now, sports league management software:
Automates the process of communicating updates.
Instead of waiting for calls from coaches to see if games or practices are still on (or, worse, anxiously calling coaches due to the fear of missing something), parents can check the league website, which is automatically updated when schedules change.
Updates can even be automated so that emails and / or texts are delivered with any scheduling changes. This way, as soon as something happens, everyone who’s impacted gets the message.
Allows communication on a variety of channels.
Texts, emails, website updates – sports league management software enables communication on the platforms that league participants prefer.
Enables league-wide or role-specific messages.
Of course, in addition to automated notifications, sports league software can also enable ad hoc messaging at both league-wide and granular levels.
Want to make sure everyone has a copy of the rules before the season starts? Emailing the league is easy. Want to check in with coaches to make sure that volunteers are lined up? Emailing the “coaches” group is easy. Want to send a personalized message? That’s easy, too.
The bottom line is that sports league management software brings communication into a single platform. Instead of getting wires crossed through telephone tag or through missed messages, league participants can be kept in the loop with basically no hassle.
Click here to read more about how sports league management software can help with communication.
Ready to See How Sports League Management Software Could Help Your League?
Being a sports league administrator doesn’t have to be difficult anymore. With software solutions that streamline communication, empower scheduling, manage registrations, and more, sports league management can be fun again.
Are you ready?
At OntheBall Sports, we help admins take the stress out of sports management. Our software solution is powerful, intuitive, and cost-efficient. Best of all, it comes backed with our industry-leading customer support options. We’ll set up your league for free, and we’re available to help you get the most out of your solution whenever you need us.
Even if you’re not into tech, we think you’ll be into OntheBall Sports.
Want to see it in action? View a demo of the software here.
(There’s no need to schedule a call or download anything to see it.)
If you do want to talk in more detail, though, we’d love to hear from you. Our goal is to help you take your league to the next level by making sports league management easy.
This should be fun. With OntheBall Sports, it can be. Get in touch with us to get started.