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What an exhibition game is
An exhibition game is a game played outside league standings and playoffs. In many leagues the term is exhibition game; in others it's a friendly game or a scrimmage. Teams use exhibition games for preseason prep, tryout evaluation, tournament warm-ups or giving newer players real game minutes. The two clubs set the format between themselves.
How to find an exhibition game in 4 steps
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Set up your team
Add your team in Next Play with its sport, birth year, gender (boys, girls or co-ed) and level: recreational, development, competitive or premier. Set your club's travel radius. If your team will play up or down, list how many birth years, for example "will play up to 2 years older."
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Find teams that fit
Next Play shows teams that match on sport, birth year, gender and level within your travel radius. When your play-up or play-down range overlaps another team's, the app shows it. Already have a free slot booked? Post an open game with the date, time window and venue, and matching teams can claim it.
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Send a friendly invite
Pick your team, the date, the start time and who hosts: your venue or theirs. The other club accepts, suggests another time, or declines with a reason. Want to play a club that isn't on Play 2 Earn Sports? Invite it by name, and we email that club an invite with one reminder.
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Play, then confirm the score
Confirmed games go on your team's schedule. Staff from both clubs can message in the game's chat and request a referee. After the start time, one club enters the score and the other confirms or disputes it within 48 hours.
How long is an exhibition game?
There's no single answer, because the two clubs decide. A few patterns are common:
- Older youth and adult teams often play a full-length game under normal rules, since an exhibition game is many teams' last real test before the season.
- Younger age groups often shorten the game or add rotations so everyone gets time.
- The booked slot usually sets the limit. A one-hour ice sheet, gym slot or turf booking has to cover warm-up and changeover too, so many clubs plan a game that finishes well inside the slot.
Agree the length in the invite or staff chat. For sport-specific formats, see the hockey and soccer pages.
What to agree before the game
Use this checklist in the staff chat before anyone travels:
- Venue and time. The field, rink, gym or diamond, the start time and the latest finish time.
- Format. Number and length of periods, halves, quarters, innings or sets, and the team size.
- Officials. Whether you'll use a referee or umpire, and how many. The host club and the referee agree the fee.
- Substitutions and rule changes. Free or rolling subs, a running clock, or any rule your league changes for exhibition play.
- Score kept or not. Whether you'll enter the result in Next Play and how a big lead will be handled.
- Jerseys. Who changes if colors clash, or who brings pinnies.
- Safety and medical. Who provides first aid, where the nearest emergency access is, and the contact rules for the age group.
Why clubs use Next Play for exhibition games
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Matches you'd actually want to play
Matching uses sport, birth year, gender, level and travel radius, plus play-up and play-down ranges that show when two teams overlap.
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One invite with a clear answer
The other club accepts, suggests another time or declines with a reason, so the thread doesn't stall on "let me check."
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Records built from confirmed games
Team records come only from friendlies both clubs confirmed: games, wins-losses-draws, late cancels (less than 24 hours' notice) and no-shows. The Reliable badge needs at least 5 confirmed games, no no-shows and no more than 1 late cancel in the last 12 months.
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Kept apart from your league
Friendlies are kept separate from league standings, so you can try a new lineup or a new goalie without it touching your table. Next Play is free for clubs to use.
Questions
Yes, for most purposes. Both are games outside league standings that two clubs arrange between themselves. "Exhibition game" is the usual wording in many leagues and in sports like hockey and baseball, while "friendly game" is common in soccer and rugby. Next Play books both the same way, with a friendly invite, and keeps the results separate from league standings.
Not in Next Play. Friendlies, including exhibition games, are kept separate from league standings. They do count toward your team's Next Play record, which only uses friendlies both clubs confirmed: games played, wins-losses-draws, late cancels and no-shows. Check your own league's rules on whether exhibition games need approval or reporting.
Set your team's sport, birth year, gender, level and travel radius in Next Play, and add a play-up or play-down range if you'll play older or younger teams. Browse the teams that match and send a friendly invite with a date, start time and host, or post an open game so matching teams can claim your free slot.
The two clubs do, within whatever their league or association requires. Agree the length, the number of periods or halves, substitutions, officials and whether score is kept before the game. Next Play's staff chat gives the two clubs' staff one thread per game to settle those details, and it's staff only, so players and parents can't read it.
Yes. Invite any club by name, even if it isn't on Play 2 Earn Sports, and we email that club an invite with one reminder. That way you can book a friendly with the team you already had in mind and still keep the date, host and result in one place.
Use the referee request on the booked game in Next Play. You can ask for one referee or a full crew. The host club and the referee agree the fee directly, and Next Play doesn't charge for this. Agree in the staff chat which club requests officials.
