Youth Tournament Stay-to-Play Statistics 2026

Minimum room nights

Of 391 tournaments that require booking through the tournament, 148 print a total room-night minimum, 16 state the minimum as rooms per night or per day, and 227 print no number we could read. The median total is 20 room nights, with a range of 8 to 48.

Share is out of the 148 that print a total. A minimum given as rooms per night or per day is counted separately and is not converted.

Local exemption radius

Of 391 required tournaments, 203 state a mile radius for local teams and 188 state none. Each tournament counts once, at its largest stated radius. Text that only says the rule applies to non-local teams is not counted as a radius.

Share is out of the 203 that state a radius. 188 of the 391 required tournaments state none.

Opt-out and waiver fee amounts

140 required tournaments print a fee for teams that do not book through the tournament. 37 print one flat amount, 98 print a formula based on tournament days, and 5 print a fee with no amount we could read. The median flat amount is $975, with a range of $500 to $1,500.

98 tournaments print the same formula: tournament days minus 1, times $200. The amount depends on the length of the event, so it is not a single figure.

29 charge a team by the room night when it falls short of the minimum. The median is $50 per room night.

Hosts call this fee an opt-out fee, waiver fee, buyout or lodging surcharge. We group them because each is what the host quotes for a team that books outside the tournament. Whether a fee applies to your team depends on the rule and the local radius on the tournament page.

Booking deadlines

Of 391 required tournaments, 14 print an exact booking deadline date, 106 print a deadline or opening date in words, and 271 print none on the pages we read.

Among the 14 with an exact date, the median deadline is 42 days before the first game, and the range is 11 to 130 days.

Exact penalty amounts

Of 391 required tournaments, 179 print an exact dollar amount in the penalty or fee text. 23 describe removal or ineligibility without a dollar amount, 10 describe another consequence without an amount, and 179 print no penalty on the pages we read.

Required tournaments by sport

One row per sport with 5 or more required tournaments. A median appears only when 5 or more tournaments in the row print the figure.

Rule mix by month of the first game

Tournaments grouped by the month of their first game. Months with fewer than 5 tournaments are left out (2 months). Required here includes tournaments with an opt-out or waiver fee.

How we count

• We count every youth tournament page live on TourneyTrip. That is not every tournament in the country.
• Every rule comes from the official host page or the housing page it links. A second, independent check of the official host page is done before a page goes live. Directories and news are never a source.
• Rules were checked between October 14, 2026 and October 25, 2026. The as-of date above is the newest check date.
• Required means the host's rules say teams must book through the tournament or its housing partner. It includes rules with an opt-out or waiver fee, the same way the main report counts it.
• Room nights, radius, fees, deadlines and dollar amounts are read from the quoted rule text. A rule that prints no number is counted as no number, never estimated.
• Unclear is an honest status. When a host page does not state a rule, we say unclear and do not guess.
• Every figure shows its n. Percentages are rounded to whole numbers. Counts are recomputed at every site build.
• Rule quotes, sources and checked dates for each event are in every stay to play rule, quoted. Counts by state and sport are in stay-to-play rules by state and sport. Read how we score housing rules.