Organising a prediction game: Excel, WhatsApp or your own site?

All you wanted was to organise a prediction game. A few people from the office, your friends or the members of your club were supposed to predict football results. At the end of the season there is a winner, maybe a small prize, and some friendly banter in the group along the way. That is all it takes, right?

The first matchdays go great. Everybody sends their predictions via WhatsApp, you enter the results in Excel and announce the current standings. But by matchday five at the latest, the casual game has turned into a small admin project. One person forgot their predictions, another is missing points, and somebody keeps asking when you will finally update the table.

Suddenly you are less of a player and more the person who has to take care of everything. Yet there are several ways to organise a prediction game. Which one makes sense depends mainly on how much work you want to take on yourself.

WhatsApp and Excel: works as long as it stays small

The simplest solution costs you nothing at first. You create a WhatsApp group, collect the predictions and manage the results in an Excel sheet. For a handful of friends and a few matches, that can be perfectly enough.

• Pro: You can start right away. Everybody knows WhatsApp, Excel is set up quickly and you decide yourself how points are calculated.
• Con: All the work stays with you. You have to collect predictions, enter results, check points and update the table. With many players and matchdays, this quickly becomes a chore.

The real problem is not Excel. The problem is that someone has to maintain the sheet. And that someone is usually you. If you enjoy it, there is nothing wrong with that. But if you would rather predict and cheer along yourself, there are more convenient ways.

Free prediction sites: less work, but not always what you want

The next option is a free prediction site. You create a game, invite your players and let the platform take over part of the work. Depending on the provider, fixtures and results are provided automatically and points are calculated on their own.

• Pro: You no longer have to enter every result yourself. Players can submit their predictions directly on the platform and see the current table.
• Con: You are tied to the features and rules on offer. Ads can be annoying, and when it comes to data protection you should check which data is processed and where it is stored.

For a private prediction game, this can be exactly right. You should just think beforehand about whether the options on offer are enough for you. Especially if you are organising a game for your club or your office, you may want to decide yourself how it is played and at which address the site can be reached.

Your own prediction site: when a game becomes more

Your own prediction site is interesting if you want to set up your game for more than one season or care about a solution that fits your ideas.

• Pro: You can run your prediction game under your own address. With the right solution, fixtures, results and tables are managed automatically while you focus on the players and the competition.
• Con: Such a solution can cost money. If you build the website yourself, setup, maintenance and technical upkeep come on top.

One thing is important though: having your own site does not necessarily mean you have to code it yourself. There are also ready-made solutions that let you run your own prediction game without taking care of the entire technical side.

What a good prediction game really needs

Before you choose an option, it is worth looking at the things that will actually save you work later. A pretty table is of little use if you still have to enter results and recalculate points every weekend.

• Automatic results: Fixtures and results should be provided automatically. That saves you manual upkeep, and you can rely on the scoring not depending on you alone.
• Your own scoring rules: Not every game plays the same way. One possible system is 3/2/1: three points for the exact score, two points for the correct goal difference and one point for the correct tendency. That way, a prediction of a 2:1 win still pays off if the actual result is 3:2.
• Deadline at kick-off: Predictions have to be fixed in time. A clear deadline at kick-off prevents arguments about who was still allowed to change their prediction after the match started.
• No ads and sensible data protection: Nobody wants to fight through banner ads just to submit a prediction. Also pay attention to how the data of your players is handled. A server location in Germany can be an important criterion, but it does not replace checking the privacy terms.
• A transparent price: If you pay for your prediction game, the costs should be clear. Check what is included and whether you can cancel monthly. After all, you are organising a prediction game, not a second household budget.

Your prediction game in five steps

1. Put your group together: Decide whether you want to play with friends, colleagues or your club, and how many players you expect.
2. Choose the competition: Should it be about the German Bundesliga, or do you want to predict other competitions and sports as well?
3. Set the rules: Decide on the points system and the deadline. Clear rules prevent arguments later.
4. Choose how to organise it: For a small group, Excel can be enough. If you play regularly and do not feel like scoring by hand, an automated prediction site is the better choice.
5. Start the game: Share the link, briefly explain the rules and set when it starts. After that, your players should be able to predict on their own as far as possible.

And if you want your own prediction site?

That is exactly what YoureCom Cloud is for. You get your own prediction game under your own address without having to develop the website yourself. It works for a group of friends just as well as for an office or a club.

You can choose from more than 25 competitions in football, ice hockey, basketball and volleyball. Fixtures and results are provided automatically. Points and table calculate themselves, and you can also add your own matches.

The platform is ad-free and uses servers in Germany. Prices start at 9 euros per month. You can cancel monthly and try YoureCom Cloud for free for 14 days. The service is offered in German.

Whether you go with Excel, a free platform or your own site is ultimately a question of effort. If you only want to predict a few matches with three friends, you do not need a big solution. But if your group grows and you spend more time scoring every weekend than on the actual game, it is worth handing over the organisation.

Because in the end it should be about the matches, the surprising results and the question of who is on top at the end of the season. Not about who updates the Excel sheet the fastest.