It's tempting to choose a fee that feels fair and hope you can make the season work around it. A safer starting point is to work backwards: add up what the season will cost to deliver, including your own time, choose a pricing unit that fits those costs, and divide by the number of teams you're confident will pay. Then have a chat with a few schools and test the number.

What does a school esports entry fee actually pay for?

It pays for the service a school gets throughout the season: fixtures, support, admin and any supervision you provide, as well as software. Be clear about what's included, from games and scheduled matches to support hours and finals eligibility. Spell out what the school still needs to provide too, such as a teacher with the students on match nights.

Next, list your costs, from setup and match nights to platform fees, payment costs and a refund buffer. Separate fixed costs, which you'll carry whether ten teams enter or forty, from variable costs that increase with each team. What's left from each entry after all its variable costs, including any revenue-based charges, is its contribution margin. That's the money available to cover your fixed costs, rather than whole-season profit.

Should you count your own time if you're volunteering?

Yes. Your time matters to the delivery plan, even if the first season runs on volunteer effort. Put a value on those hours as a planning allowance, even if nobody's being paid yet. That shows how much you're relying on donated time and what may need to change if someone steps back.

Should you charge per player, per team or per school?

Choose the unit that best follows your costs, and make it clear whether substitutes, extra teams and additional games are included. Different team sizes and numbers of entries per school change how affordable and sustainable each option feels.

  • Per player suits varied team sizes but needs rules for substitutes.
  • Per team tracks fixtures and match-night work, which mostly happen team by team.
  • Per school can be easy to budget. With a flat fee and the same inclusions, a six-team school pays the same as a one-team school, so its cost per team is lower while it may need far more of your time.

How many teams will actually pay?

Base your price on paying entries. Expressions of interest, or the number of schools multiplied by an optimistic team count, aren't money in the bank.

I think game popularity matters here because it affects how good a tournament can be, or how hotly contested it is. Before you bank on a forecast, check that enough schools genuinely want to play your chosen title. Check the publisher's rules before you plan paid entry too. Under Epic's default event licence terms, which include Rocket League, participation can't be gated behind paid entry and the event must fit within 30 days, unless Epic agrees otherwise in writing. Player eligibility and the other licence conditions matter too; this doesn't establish any organiser's separately negotiated permissions. Riot's current VALORANT community guidelines allow entry fees subject to their conditions, including organiser eligibility and the event visibility form. Check the rules for your title and event rather than assuming one game's permission carries across.

How do you turn your costs into an entry fee?

Work out the entry-fee income needed to cover your costs, allowing for any revenue-based percentage deduction, then divide by your paying entries. That's a cost-covering starting point to test with schools, rather than a universal recommended price.

Game-neutral illustrative planning example in NZD, before any applicable tax. This assumes a charging model permitted for the title and event. It isn't a School Esports quote or a recommended market price. Every input is an invented assumption.

Say 20 teams pay, your fixed costs are NZ$3,200, each team adds NZ$10 in delivery costs, and a hypothetical 15% of entry-fee income is deducted. For this simplified calculation, assume those cost figures cover all other setup, delivery and payment costs, with no additional percentage charge. That 15% comes off the top, so divide by 0.85 rather than adding 15%: (3,200 + 20 × 10) ÷ 0.85 = NZ$4,000, or NZ$200 per team. Deduct NZ$600 for the percentage charge, NZ$200 in variable costs and NZ$3,200 in fixed costs from NZ$4,000, and you're left with exactly NZ$0, with no surplus for reinvestment. If only 16 teams pay, the cost-covering price becomes (3,200 + 16 × 10) ÷ (16 × 0.85) = NZ$247.06, rounded up to cents. Replace the assumptions with your actual processing fees, taxes, refund allowance, currency conversion and commercial terms in a real budget.

Can schools afford it, and can they actually pay it?

Ask them before you publish the fee. Business.govt.nz suggests researching what customers will pay and whether they can afford it. For schools, how they pay matters too: some use a card, while others need a purchase order. If sponsorship or subsidised places will bring the cost down, only count that money once it's confirmed.

School Esports advertises Stripe-connected billing with card and purchase-order choices for schools. Its current pricing lists a 15% entry-fee share and shows a crossed-out US$499 one-time setup price alongside a first-five-customers free-setup promotion. That doesn't confirm a promotional place is still available. Free-entry events need a pricing discussion with the team. Confirm your own offer, currency, tax treatment and whether payment processing is inside or outside the share before budgeting.

What should you publish alongside the fee?

Give schools enough detail to know exactly what they're agreeing to:

The School Esports billing guide notes that overdue invoices can block registration, and withdrawing a team doesn't automatically mean a refund. Take tax or legal questions to an accountant or adviser.

How do you know if the price was right?

Once the season's finished, compare actual paid entries, delivery hours and costs with your plan. Use what really happened to set next year's fee. My view is that reliable play and helpful support make a stronger case for renewal than a low headline fee attached to an inconsistent season. Check that against what your schools tell you, rather than assuming a lower or higher fee will change attendance or renewal.