How to run a sweepstake (the easy way)
Whether it's the World Cup or Eurovision, every office, pub, and group chat loves a sweepstake. But running one properly — fairly assigning teams or countries, tracking the standings, chasing payments, keeping the leaderboard updated — is more work than it looks. Here's how to do it right.
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FIFA World Cup 2026
USA, Canada & Mexico · June–July 2026 · 48 teams · Group stage + knockout rounds
World Cup sweepstake guide →🎤
Eurovision Song Contest 2026
Vienna, Austria · 13–17 May 2026 · 35 countries · Semi-finals + Grand Final
Eurovision sweepstake guide →What is a sweepstake?
A sweepstake is a competition where participants are randomly assigned a competitor — a team or a country — and then follow that entry through the tournament. Everyone pays an equal entry fee (or it runs for free), and whoever is assigned the winner at the end takes the pot.
The random draw is the whole point. It levels the playing field completely — a die-hard fan is no more likely to draw the winner than someone who barely follows the competition. That's why sweepstakes work across an entire office, not just the enthusiasts.
How many people can enter?
It depends on the tournament. The World Cup has 48 teams and Eurovision has 35 countries — so you can run a sweepstake for up to that many people with one entry each. With larger groups, participants can be assigned multiple entries, so more than one person can win.
Most sweepstakes run with between 10 and 50 people. playdrawr handles any group size automatically — the draw assigns teams or countries evenly across however many participants you add.
Setting the entry fee
The entry fee is entirely up to you. Most UK office sweepstakes run at £2–£5 per person. There's no right answer — the sweepstake works just as well with a token prize as with a bigger pot. What makes it engaging is the shared stake in the tournament, not the money.
You can also run it completely free — many workplaces do a non-cash prize or just bragging rights.
Step by step
Create your sweepstake
Go to playdrawr.co.uk and create a free account. Choose your tournament — World Cup or Eurovision — name your sweepstake, and set an entry fee if you're collecting one. Takes under two minutes.
Add your participants
Add everyone by name. You can add email addresses too if you want playdrawr to send them their assignment directly. The free plan supports up to 48 participants — anyone beyond that joins a reserve list automatically.
Run the draw
Hit the draw button. playdrawr randomly assigns all teams or countries across your participants. You can re-run as many times as you like before confirming — once confirmed, assignments are locked.
Share the link
Once you confirm the draw, playdrawr generates a shareable leaderboard link. Send it to everyone — they can see their assignment and the live standings. No login needed for participants.
Let the tournament do the rest
playdrawr updates automatically from live results. Standings and the leaderboard update as results come in — you don't need to do anything.
How scoring works
Points are awarded automatically as the tournament progresses. Each tournament has its own system:
- Group win3 pts
- Group draw1 pt
- Round of 16+5 pts
- Quarter-final+8 pts
- Semi-final+12 pts
- Runner-up+15 pts
- Winner 🏆+25 pts
- Reaches Grand Final10 pts
- Finishes top 3+20 pts
- Wins Eurovision 🏆+50 pts
- Auto-qualified countries start with 10 pts. Max: 60 pts.
Tracking payments
playdrawr has built-in payment tracking. Mark each participant as paid or unpaid with a single click. See the total pot collected and how much is still outstanding. No money moves through the platform — you collect however you normally would, and playdrawr just helps you keep track of who's sorted and who still owes.
The rules
Keep it simple:
- One entry fee per person, paid before the draw
- Teams or countries are assigned randomly — no swaps or preferences
- Whoever's entry wins the tournament wins the pot
- If a participant has multiple entries, their best-performing one counts
playdrawr's leaderboard tracks points throughout so you can follow who's ahead even before a winner is decided.