← Home · Rules · Updated July 2026
How prediction league scoring works — the exact rules
BeTeam scores every prediction automatically with one transparent system: 3 points for the exact score, 1 point for the correct outcome, 0 for a miss — with per-sport adjustments, knockout multipliers up to ×16, and optional twists the league organizer controls. This page is the complete rulebook, the same rules shown inside the app.
If you're designing your own office pool in a spreadsheet, you're welcome to copy this system — it's the product of a full World Cup with 470,000+ scored predictions. Or skip the spreadsheet: BeTeam applies all of it automatically.
Base points — football, hockey & tennis
| Your prediction | Points |
|---|---|
| Exact score (e.g. predicted 2-1, finished 2-1) | 3 |
| Correct winner or draw, wrong score | 1 |
| Wrong outcome | 0 |
Knockout rule: knockout guesses are judged on the result after extra time. A penalty shootout doesn't count — a game decided on penalties is scored as a draw.
High-scoring sports reward "close enough"
Nobody predicts an NBA game 109-107 exactly, so basketball, American football, and baseball add a middle tier:
| Sport | Exact | Close (right winner) | Right winner, further off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basketball | 5 | 3 — within 5 pts each side | 1 |
| American football (NFL) | 5 | 3 — within 7 pts each side | 1 |
| Baseball (MLB) | 4 | 2 — within 2 runs each side | 1 |
Multipliers — and they multiply together
- Super Game (×2). The organizer can flag a decisive game before it starts; the flag locks at kickoff.
- Knockout stage. Each round doubles the last — a 5-round bracket runs ×1 → ×2 → ×4 → ×8 → ×16; shorter cups start lower. A game's round locks when it's added to the league.
- Weekly / Monthly doubling. Optionally, points double each week or month the league runs — late-season games matter more, keeping everyone in the race.
- Relative scoring. If 10% or fewer of your group picked the outcome that actually happened — and you were one of them — your points double. Bold calls pay.
When more than one multiplier is active they multiply: a Super Game (×2) in a doubled week (×2) scores ×4, not ×3.
Bonus questions
- Official questions (added with a tournament, e.g. "Top scorer?") are worth up to 10 points and resolve automatically when the result is known.
- Custom questions (written by the organizer) are worth their number of options — a 4-option question scores 4 points.
- If reality ties (e.g. joint top scorers), everyone who picked either correct answer scores.
The anti-cheat rules
- Predictions lock at kickoff. Nobody can edit once the game starts — the most common way spreadsheet pools go wrong.
- Miss the deadline? The app auto-fills a guess for you, but it scores at most 1 point (exact match only) — you stay in the game without being rewarded for forgetting.
- Everything is logged. Every prediction is recorded and visible after kickoff — no "I said 2-1" arguments.
Frequently asked questions
What is a fair scoring system for a football prediction league?
The most common fair system — and BeTeam's default — is 3 for the exact score, 1 for the correct outcome, 0 otherwise, with predictions locked at kickoff. It rewards precision without making lucky exact guesses the only thing that matters. How hard are those points in practice? See our research on how accurate football fans really are — across 194,812 World Cup 2026 predictions, fans hit the exact score 10.4% of the time. And does the choice of system actually change who wins? We re-scored 203 real leagues five ways: in 52% of them at least two systems crowned a different champion — see the scoring systems study.
How are knockout games scored?
On the result after extra time; penalties don't count (a shootout game is a draw). Each knockout round doubles the last, up to ×16 at the final.
How does scoring work for basketball or NFL?
A "close enough" tier: 5 for exact, 3 for within 5 points (basketball) or 7 (NFL) on each side with the right winner, 1 for the right winner further off. Baseball: 4 / 2 / 1.
Can the organizer customize the scoring?
Yes — Super Games, weekly/monthly doubling, relative scoring, and bonus questions are all organizer-controlled, and multipliers multiply together.
