OpenSports is a fully-featured platform designed to meet all of your sports and fitness activity needs! In this article, learn about all of the exciting features OpenSports has to offer.
What is an OpenSports group?
When first joining OpenSports to run your sports and fitness organization, you will need to create a group.
- Groups are the hub for all of your activities, including events, programs, leagues, and tournaments.
- If your group is public, local OpenSports users can discover your group on the OpenSports App home page.
- Individuals join groups (i.e., become group members) so they can find and attend your activities. Users can join multiple groups, which lets them register for activities hosted by different groups without needing to switch accounts.
- As an organizer, you can create multiple groups under the same account, allowing you to track and manage all of your activities in one place.
- To get started with an OpenSports group, select one of our subscription plans based on your needs.
Check out a few existing OpenSports group pages: Chicago Fire Rec Soccer, Sunshine Coast Pickleball.
If you want run your league, tournament, or program through OpenSports, read more about our comprehensive platform here.
Create your group on OpenSports
OpenSports groups can be created through the OpenSports website or app, but we recommend using the website as this allows you to easily complete your subscription payment.
Here is an overview of getting your group set up:
- Register your group information (group name, location, logo).
- Select the subscription plan that best suits your needs.
- Your group is sent to the OpenSports team for review and approval.
- Once your group is approved by the OpenSports team, you can take advantage of all of the features that OpenSports offers.
To get started, check out our how-to guide for creating an OpenSports group or see our guides on how to make to switch from Facebook, email, WhatsApp, or Meetup.
Invite your team
Running a sports and fitness organization can take a village! OpenSports makes it simple to add members of your team to help run your group.
- Once your group is approved, you can share a join link with your team. Individuals will be prompted to create an OpenSports account, if they do not already have one.
- Once your team has joined your OpenSports group, you can assign individual users a variety of admin roles. Each admin role has a different level of permissions:
| Features and Permissions | Group Admin | Event Admin | Event Manager | Event Assistant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manage Events (create, edit, delete, repeat) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Send Event Invitations | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
| View and Manage Attendees | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Check-in Attendees | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Access Event Chat | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Add Admins and Managers to Event | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Issue Account Credits and Refunds | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| View User Dashboard | ✅ | ✅ |
Host your first activity
There are several flexible options on OpenSports for hosting sports and fitness activities:
- Events are best for for one-time or single recurring events (e.g., drop-in or pickup activities)
- Leagues and tournaments are best for managing registration, scheduling, and teams for leagues and tournaments. Please note this feature is only available for the Full-Time Club and Premium subscription plans. Read more here.
Extra features
Setting up an event on OpenSports is a straightforward process with additional features that you can enable as needed:
- Waivers: automatically collect liability waivers from all event attendees.
- Discount codes: set up custom discounts that can be automatically applied.
- Refund management: set up refund deadlines so users can be automatically refunded when they cancel their order.
- Reports: get detailed attendee reports, revenue breakdown, and event transaction tracking.
Share your group
Once you're set up with an OpenSports group, start growing your group and inviting members. Members will be prompted to create an OpenSports account (if they do not already have one) before they can join your group.
- Sending out the link to your public group page (e.g., to an existing WhatsApp chat, Facebook group) will make it easy for your existing players to join your OpenSports group
- You can also send out email invitations directly through OpenSports.
- If you choose to make your group public, local OpenSports users can find your group through our OpenSports app home page page.
- You can easily collect custom details about your group members (e.g., age, gender, skill level) through member forms.
To get started, check out our how-to guide for inviting members to your OpenSports group.
Get paid with automatic payments
Easily collect payments for memberships and events through OpenSports and receive automatic payouts on a rolling basis.
- OpenSports uses Stripe, an industry leader in online payment processing.
- Collect payments through OpenSports for automatic, cashless, and contactless payouts directly to your bank account.
- Get access to built-in reports to track your revenue, payments, refunds, and popular discounts.
To get started, check out our payments overview guide.
Low transaction fees
OpenSports collects a small transaction fee for all payments collected through the platform. The transaction fees are a combination of an OpenSports fee (3%) and Stripe processing fees (which differ based on your location - see more here).
Here is a comparison of commonly-used platforms and how much your organization earns from each transaction:
| $5 order | $10 order | $20 order | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. OpenSports | $4.40 | $9.10 | $18.50 |
| 2. Meetup | $4.15 | $8.80 | $18.10 |
| 3. EventBrite | $2.88 | $7.22 | $15.90 |
- Data sourced from OpenSports on August 13, 2023.
- Data sourced from Meetup on August 13, 2023.
- Data sourced from from EventBrite on August 13, 2023.
- Note that Stripe transaction fees differ between countries. Read more here.
Read more about transaction fees on OpenSports here.
Which OpenSports subscription is right for me?
Any sports and fitness organization, big or small, can take advantage of OpenSports features with our subscription plans. There are several levels available based on your organization's needs.
If you are unsure which level is right for you, reach out to our team and we'd be happy to chat: support@opensports.net
| Subscription Level | Included Features | Price (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Recreational Group | Event setup, payment, waivers, and refunds Event invites, attendee management, reports Multiple admins for groups and events Event widgets Discount codes | $30 / month |
| Full Time Club | All Recreational Group features PLUS Memberships and class passes League and tournament management Google Analytics and Ad integration | $70 / month |
| Premium | All Full Time Club features PLUS Custom reports Zapier integration Dedicated account manager and priority support Discounts on payment processing fees (if processing over $500k/month) | $750+ / month |
Get 17% off when you sign up for the year!
Getting started
Ready to get started on OpenSports? Check out our handy guides below!
Making the move to OpenSports
- Moving your Facebook group to OpenSports
- Moving your email group to OpenSports
- Moving your WhatsApp group to OpenSports
- Moving your Meetup group to OpenSports
Setting up your OpenSports group
- How to create a new group
- How to assign admin roles
- How to add electronic waivers
- How to add a facility to your group or league
- How to invite members to join your group
- Member forms overview
- How to receive automatic payouts
See how other organizations are benefiting from OpenSports
- Badminton drop-ins
- The story of Doylestown pickleball
- Testimonials from North American Sports and Social Clubs
Questions? Send them our way: support@opensports.net