Stay-to-Play Penalties: What 56 Tournament Rules Say, Quoted Word for Word

As of Oct 16, 2026, 56 of the 124 live tournaments in our data that require the tournament hotel state a penalty for not booking it. The other 68 say the hotel is required and state no penalty.

Last updated: October 20, 2026. TourneyTrip, run by Hive Asset Group, LLC, copies each clause from the host's own page and shows the date we checked. Rules change, so read the live page before you book.

How many penalties are there, and what kinds?

Of 124 required tournaments, 56 state a penalty, as of Oct 16, 2026. Fee or buyout clauses are the biggest group at 33.

We sort each clause by keyword, and one clause can fit more than one group. So the groups add up to more than 56.

By sport, softball has 21 of the 56, baseball 10, hockey 8, soccer 8, volleyball 5 and basketball 4. Lacrosse has none in this count. Six lacrosse tournaments require the hotel, and none states a penalty.

What do the fee and buyout clauses say?

Flat amounts in the quotes run from $500 to $1500, as checked Oct 15 and 16, 2026. Red Rock Rave quotes $100 per unbooked room per night instead.

PGF National Qualifier So Cal Irvine (softball). Source: Premier Girls Fastpitch, checked Oct 15, 2026. Page: TourneyTrip listing.

"or your team will be subject to a $800 housing buyout fee. Any team that falls under the 8 room minimum per night during their stay for the tournament will be subject to a pro-rated hotel buyout fee of $100 per room short of the 8 room minimum."

Triple Crown OKC (softball). Source: Triple Crown Fastpitch, checked Oct 15, 2026. Page: TourneyTrip listing.

"Out-of-town teams staying outside the TCS lodging options can pay a $830 Lodging Surcharge (2027 policy PDF)."

USSSA Winter National Championships, Myrtle Beach (softball). Source: USSSA, checked Oct 15, 2026.

"Teams that require overnight accommodation but choose to stay outside the event's room block and/or fail to meet the minimum room booking requirement may instead pay the $500 opt-out fee."

Red Rock Rave 1 (volleyball). Source: SCVA, checked Oct 15, 2026.

"Teams that fall short of the required rooms must pay a $100 penalty per unbooked room per night in order to remain eligible."

Ripken Baseball at Sports Force Parks at Cedar Point (baseball). Source: Sports Force Parks, checked Oct 15, 2026.

"an additional fee will be assessed upon team check-in. This fee will be $500 for tournaments 3 days or less and $750 for tournaments 4 days or longer."

Triple Crown Steamboat Mountain Magic #1 (baseball). Source: Triple Crown Baseball, checked Oct 15, 2026. The clause is about scheduling, so it sits with the schedule group in our count.

Reservations booked outside the TCS room block "require the lodging surcharge to be paid or your team will NOT be scheduled into the event." (2026 policy PDF)

What do the removal and disqualification clauses say?

Twenty-one clauses mention removal, expulsion or ineligibility, as of Oct 16, 2026. The verbs differ, and the verb matters: "will" and "may" are not the same promise.

Gopher State Presidents Cup (hockey). Source: MYHockey Tournaments, checked Oct 16, 2026. Page: TourneyTrip listing. This one also mentions refunds and playoff eligibility. The page places a 24 room night minimum between the two consequences, so the quote includes it.

"Failure to comply will result in expulsion from the tournament, and registration fees will not be refunded. A minimum of 24 room nights is mandatory (e.g., 12 rooms x 2 nights = 24 room nights). Teams that do not meet this requirement will be ineligible for semi-final or championship play during the tournament."

NIKE Ace of Clubs Region Qualifier (volleyball). Source: Stay and Save Program PDF, checked Oct 15, 2026. It lists three consequences, joined by "and/or".

"If the minimum room requirement is not met: 1) team may have tournament registration removed until compliant, 2) unable to participate in future NCR events, 3) and/or teams may be subject to a housing penalty fee up to $1000.00 and/or disqualification from the tournament with no team fee refund."

Dallas Cup (soccer). Source: Dallas Cup hotels page, checked Oct 15, 2026. Page: TourneyTrip listing.

"If the required reservations are not made, the Dallas Cup reserves the right to withdraw the invitation to participate, and the entry fee will be forfeited."

Michigan Middle School Basketball Championship (basketball). Source: State Basketball Championship, checked Oct 15, 2026. Page: TourneyTrip listing. The Washington and Wisconsin middle school championships quote the same sentence.

"Any teams that do not meet the minimum booked hotel rooms may be declared ineligible from competing in the tournament."

What do the forfeit, seeding and future-event clauses say?

Seven clauses mention a forfeit or no refund, four mention schedule or playoff placement, and two mention future events, as of Oct 16, 2026. Several overlap with the groups above.

Nike Tournament of Champions Phoenix (basketball). Source: Tournament of Champions, checked Oct 15, 2026.

"Teams traveling from outside the Phoenix-Metro area that do not follow the stay-to-play requirement will forfeit their spot in the event."

Beantown Women's Classic (hockey). Source: Beantown Classic, checked Oct 15, 2026.

"Teams that do not follow the hotel policy may not be placed on the tournament schedule."

PGF National Qualifier Dalton, GA (softball). Source: Premier Girls Fastpitch, checked Oct 15, 2026. This is one of two clauses that mention future events.

"Failure to use tournament hotels will jeopardize your team's participation in future events. Any team that falls under the 8 room minimum per night during their stay for the tournament will be subject to a pro-rated hotel buyout fee of $100 per room short of the 8 room minimum."

Which required tournaments state no penalty?

Sixty-eight of 124 required tournaments state none, as of Oct 16, 2026. That is 55 percent of the required group.

For example, the Perfect Game PG 10U Spring Season Opener at CTX Field of Dreams says the lodging policy "is required" and 48 room nights make a team compliant. Its penalty field is empty, which means the page we checked did not state one.

How should you read a penalty line?

Read the verb, the amount and the date. A clause with "may" leaves room, and a clause with "will" does not, as Oct 16, 2026 wording shows.

Michigan's page says teams "may be declared ineligible." Gopher State says failure "will result in expulsion." Some clauses also depend on a distance rule or a room minimum that sits in a different sentence, so quote only what the page says. Several rules list exemptions too, which our stay-to-play guide explains, and the exemption wording lives on each host's page.

All 56 tournaments with a stated penalty

This is every live, hotel-required tournament in our data with a penalty on file, as of Oct 16, 2026. Types come from keyword groups, so check the quote on the host's page.

Check your tournament's hotel rule

FAQ

What is the penalty for not staying at the tournament hotel? It depends on the host. As of Oct 16, 2026, 56 of the 124 hotel-required tournaments in our data state one. 33 quote a fee or buyout, 21 quote removal or disqualification, and 7 quote a forfeit or no refund.

How much is a stay-to-play buyout fee? Where a dollar amount is quoted, it ranges. PGF qualifiers quote $800, Triple Crown OKC quotes a $830 Lodging Surcharge, and NIKE Ace of Clubs quotes a housing penalty fee up to $1000.00. Check your host's page for the current figure.

Do all stay-to-play tournaments have a penalty? No. As of Oct 16, 2026, 68 of the 124 hotel-required tournaments in our data state no penalty. The rule still says the hotel is required. It just does not say what happens otherwise.

Can a team be removed from a tournament for booking elsewhere? Some hosts say so. The Gopher State Presidents Cup quotes expulsion, and the Dallas Cup says it reserves the right to withdraw the invitation. Michigan's middle school basketball page says teams may be declared ineligible.

Where do these penalty quotes come from? Each clause is copied from the host's own page as stored in our data. Every quote above links to its source and shows the date we checked. Rules change, so read the live page before you book.