How RNKD works

The short version

1. An organizer publishes a tournament. Sport, format, team size, entry fee, venue, and date.
2. Players find it and register as a team. The captain pays the entry fee in the app, and that is what holds the spot.
3. Everyone plays. Players sign the event waiver in the app, check in at the venue, and follow the bracket and their next match on their phone. The organizer enters results from courtside.
4. Results become a rank. At paid events, every match moves your rank: a Tier, a Division, and RP (RNKD Points).

For players

Find an event

Open the app and browse tournaments near you. Filter by sport, and look at the card before you commit: date, venue, format, team size, entry fee, the organizer's advertised prize (if there is one), and how many spots are left.

You can browse without an account. You need one to register.

Register your team

Tournaments on RNKD are team events. The captain registers the team and pays one entry fee for it. Paying is what holds the spot, so a team isn't on the roster until its entry is paid.

• What you pay. The price on the card is the full price: the organizer's entry fee plus RNKD's service fee. Some events have an early-bird price that applies until a date the organizer sets, then switches to the regular price.
• Splitting the cost. If your teammates want to pay the captain back, the app can open a payment app like Venmo, PayPal, or Zelle with the captain's handle. That money goes straight between you. RNKD doesn't touch it.
• If you need to drop out. Withdraw 7 or more days before the event for a full refund. Between 3 and 7 days out, you get 50% back. Inside 3 days, there's no refund. If the organizer cancels the event, everyone gets a full refund, service fee included.

Game day

1. Sign the waiver. Each player signs the event waiver in the app before the event.
2. Check in. Signing unlocks your check-in code. Show it at the venue and the organizer scans it.
3. Play. The bracket, standings, and your next match are live in the app. When your match is ready, you get a notification, with the court number if the organizer is assigning courts.
4. Scores. The organizer enters every result, so nobody argues over a scoresheet mid-bracket. If something looks wrong afterwards, you can file a report from the event page for up to 7 days after it ends.

Your rank

At paid (entry-fee) tournaments, every match counts toward your rank. Free tournaments are casual and don't change it.

• Tiers. Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Elite, Champion, Legend.
• Divisions. Bronze through Diamond each have four divisions, from IV (entry) up to I (top).
• RP. Win and you earn RP (RNKD Points). Lose and you drop some. Upsets pay more. Reach 100 RP in a division and you move up.
• Placement. Your first 5 ranked matches are placement matches. After the 5th, you're placed straight into the tier that fits how you played. There's no fixed starting tier.

Your rank is separate for each sport and team size (2v2 volleyball and 6v6 volleyball are different ladders), and separate again for coed, men's, and women's events. Full details: How RNKD ranks work.

For organizers

RNKD is built for people who already run local events: rec leagues, club nights, one-day tournaments. It replaces the Google Form, the payment app, the spreadsheet bracket, and the group chat.

Publish

Create the event on your phone in eight steps: basics, sport, teams, structure, match format, venue and courts, money, and a final review. Your event goes live to players nearby right away. There's no application and no approval queue. You accept the organizer agreement once, and then you can publish.

Fill it

• Paid registration. Teams pay when they register. You're not chasing anyone at the court.
• Early-bird pricing. Set a lower price that ends at a date and time you choose.
• Share link. Every event has a public link (rnkdapp.com/tournament/…) you can post in your group chats and on social media. It opens the event in the app, or sends people to the App Store or Google Play first if they don't have it.

Run the day

• Waivers and check-in. Players sign the event waiver in the app, which unlocks their check-in code. You scan it at the door.
• Brackets. Single elimination, double elimination, round robin, groups into a knockout, and Swiss. RNKD builds the bracket and moves it forward as you enter results. Not sure which to pick? Read our guide to tournament formats.
• Courts. Tell RNKD how many courts you have and it assigns matches to open courts automatically.
• Announcements and messages. Post an update to every team at once, or reply to a single team's thread.

Get paid

Entry fees go to your payout account (set up through Stripe) once the event is complete and a 7-day hold passes. RNKD's service fee is added on top of your entry fee and paid by the player, so the entry fee you set is what you receive per team.

If you advertise a prize pool, you pay the winners yourself. RNKD doesn't hold or distribute prize money. The app shows you who placed and can open a payment app with the winning captain's handle filled in, and it keeps a record once you mark them paid.

More: RNKD for organizers.

FAQ