SportsEngine Reviews

Parents love it ... rockstar support ... simple to use!

Comments: We just ran a fundraiser through the site. 4421 individual products sold through a shareable social media link from our Sports Engine team page. We made money for our lacrosse club and I didn't have to lift a finger. They built it all as a registration. When it comes time for delivery I run one report and all the data is there.

Pros:

The interface is simple and user-friendly. Parents and players love the team stats feature! Great mobile App. Reporting is a breeze exportable .xls for everything you want to know. Registrations can be used for fundraising sales. Can't say enough about their support team and I manage a support team for a web hosting company. I could have built all the functionality myself but it would have taken months these guys have an out of the box solution at a reasonable price. Don't listen to the hater reviews they have no idea what it takes to keep an application like this running and are looking for free software that can't do what you need it to do. This stuff works and is reasonably priced!

Cons:

Some limitations to the size of pick list you can have them build for you when using registrations as fundraising management but I'm asking a lot of their support team to manually build out lists. I wish they would implement export to Google Drive in the spreadsheet reporting features.

Lots of Features - Difficult to Use - Limited Reporting

Comments: Mixed. We thought the league website looked better than our previous version. But getting data out of the system and league setup was more difficult than our previous provider.

Pros:

It has a robust front-end. Lots of features available for your league/team website. Their tool allowed users to easily build nice looking websites. They had many widgets that allowed you do generate many different web objects on a website (i.e. News articles, league standings, podcasts and use of your own URL). They offer the opportunity to provide feedback to enhance the product.

Cons:

Administrator interface was somewhat convoluted and not user friendly. Setting up a season, teams, divisions and games was not straightforward. Reports were limited. In our league, our commissioner needed to track specific penalties. SportsEngine does not offer true report functionality. It lacked the ability to design your own report, specify a query for the exact data you needed or specify the layout of the data. Even though they offer the ability to provide input on new features or suggest them, very few of the suggestions turn into reality. Nice feature to enter games real-time but it also was not always easy to use. Initial outlay was over $6k with annual cost around $700.

Very Disappointed Customer

Comments: Terrible. Their development team doesn't work. I've had bugs logged for over 4 months that are still not fixed. New ones pop up every day and just get "logged with the development team," never fixed.

Pros:

When it works, its great, it just rarely works correctly or as advertised.

Cons:

There are so many bugs that mess everything up. Then they say "its just a known bug" in the system and they are working on it. The bugs NEVER get fixed. Known bug, it was known when you where selling this to me. A scheduling system that doesn't display schedules correctly, or sync roster names or and changes correctly. Tough to operate in a system that doesn't even schedule or roster correctly. Platform does not do what they advertise. At least not well. Its also not very compatible with google chrome.

Alternatives Considered: GOALLINE and SportsPlus

Reasons for Switching to SportsEngine: Because we were sold on what was suppose to be one of the best platforms that has many great features. When it works the way its suppose, this is accurate. However, the MANY MANY MANY MANY bugs and a development team that doesn't work to fix them, not one bug sent to development has been fixed, makes this platform almost unusable. We have close to 1000 members who have joined us on the platform, switching platforms will be a huge challenge. But we are faced with this option.

Best League Set up with amazing customer service!

Comments: We use this for everything our Little League needs for admins, parents, athletes and spectators. We utilize just about every aspect the site offers. From registration to our own merchandise sales, emails to rescheduling and constant contact with any member of the league. Always finding more options to make the navigation even easier and functions I didn’t know existed. I love using SE!

Pros:

I love the way the site and app are easy to use for most, but the customer service/help options are the best I’ve ever used. The options for making the site customized for your needs are so easy and fun! You can even set up training sessions on a specific topic if needed! Keeps all our information easy to pull up and organized while letting our athletes and parents informed.

Cons:

Could be a bit cheaper, like 3% + $1 each transaction like competitors.

Alternatives Considered: Sports Connect

Reasons for Switching to SportsEngine: Our existing experience coupled with offering so many options for a user friendly website for anyone interested in knowing more about our charted non-profit, 100% volunteer organization. The DIBS assignment page is a definite selling point, being able to assign projects or have them listed and keeping track of who does what and when so we can monitor how much work our volunteers are doing.

Best Out There

Comments: Or club is able to spend the time with the actual things that matter for any youth sports organization: the families....we know the business side is now solid with the use of SportsEngine.

Pros:

Help desk tutorials so you can be self sufficient. Fee collection is HUGE for volunteer organizations....so the multiple options of installments, customizations, and billing are amazingly helpful....especially as businesses are moving away from taking checks. Our club was literally in the red until we got SportsEngine to help us collect fees properly, communicate, and promote. ALSO now HUGE is that our main league can send the game schedule directly to our website! ALL on same platform now and gigantic time saver!

Cons:

I have seen the availability of immediate support diminish.... Support is GREAT but reaching someone quickly, as a volunteer like myself, is important. Communicating to people who are not 'members' would help...as we have Alumni who are not comfortable with websites.

Why I chose SportsEngine

Comments: I've been with these guys from the beginning with multiple sports and clubs. They keep improving, keep listening and are generally fun people to work with. I think there's room for improvement in their product and they keep doing that, which is what I appreciate the most. They're also far ahead of their competition in terms of support and engagement with their user community.

Pros:

SportsEngine is more than a website. It's team collaboration software, content sharing, volunteer management, financial management and more. I still use other software tools, but I wouldn't have to, and in many cases it's just a matter of taking the time to migrate to SportsEngine's better solutions. I still use Ground.Work for collecting fees, because it's cheaper, but SportsEngine would be easier for me in the long run, if my board would let me switch.

Cons:

There are some features of SportsEngine that I find unintuitive, like News and News Aggregators, but the functionality and support is there, which is far more than I can say for most competitors. I also think some collaborations with partners like Ground.Work or JotForm would make sense to reduce cost and complexity of the existing solutions within the SportsEngine suite.

Alternatives Considered: SquadFusion and TeamSnap

Reasons for Choosing SportsEngine: Needed professional help, a more polished site, and better support.

Reasons for Switching to SportsEngine: SportsEngine was and is the best overall sports management solution available for me and my club.

Doubled the size of our club

Comments: It's doubled the size of our club in three year. The new site seems to project more confidence but it also appears very high in search engine results for our area, so we have more exposure. It's dramatically reduced the time we have to spend getting information to people or collecting information and fees.

Pros:

Once setup, it is easy to prepare for each season by making any changes to past registrations and duplicating them for the next season. It's radically reduced the amount of cash and checks we handle -- almost every transaction goes through the website now.

Cons:

Some may find the initial setup tricky but Sports Engine offers a service for setting up your website, and rates that are really good if you compare with having an web design agency doing the work.

Youth Football League Loves SportsEngine

Pros:

Ease of use. Very cost effective to switch over to and use year to year. High Levels of communication within the tool. SportsEngine is always making changes to try and improve the software. Adaptability between different orgs to use one piece of software for multiple different leagues and sports. I highly recommend this offtware quite to help in running youth sports orgs.

Cons:

Sometimes the customer service people take a little longer than you would expect to answer questions.

Not good customer service

Comments: I am really concerned about customer service. Very poor follow up. “POOR”

Pros:

Sharp, several element options and feature

Cons:

When I need to make any major changes I don’t have the opportunity to move fast.

Great Salesrep, Horrible, Clunky Interface and terrible email editor- stay away!

Comments: (There must be a limit above)... but there's more bad news: The registration form must be built by 'SportsEngine Engineers'. There's no way to modify it yourself, and when you do add fields, weird things happen and people can't complete the form. Also, don't add fields like "Parent2 Email Address"... because you would think that means that Parent2 would get copied on email and nothing is further from the truth. Also, the system doesn't recognize registrations from the same family (if they occur separately). The result? No way to calculate a 'Maximum Charge" (In our league it's max $300/family)... This just results in more time wasted explaining the limitations of SportsEngine to parents. The system is cobbled together from a bunch of different technologies... for example, the website editor is different from the registration system, which is COMPLETELY different from the payments system. SportsEngine Sales People... YOU KNOW THIS IS TRUE. DON'T DECEIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS INTO THINKING IT IS JUST ONE SYSTEM. The support is basically chat only, and very, very hard to get a hold of a live human being. Bottom line, we've been using this two seasons already, and this is the last one as far as I am concerned. (Note: We serve around 1,200 families across a handful of sports including basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, etc.) So if you are still reading this and somehow still considering SportsEngine, absolutely make sure you are shown how to do basic tasks.

Pros:

The ability to log in using Gmail is the saving grace of this software. I also like the admin edit mode (the only thing I like about the edit mode), where you can see what the website looks like as a user, and then change components of it. But that's about it.

Cons:

Oh, where do I begin??? The HTML editor looks like it is circa 1997. It's was clearly designed for older computers- you can't even see what you are typing-not enough space. Also, What You See is DEFINITELY NOT what you get. For example, you have to know to hit the Enter key twice if you actually want a line space. Also, forget dropping or pasting pictures- you have to know HTML. You have to have a degree in SQL programming to figure out how to pull reports. Worse, there is no common field (like a Google Search field) where you can enter in some piece of information... you have to select filter, then select the field, then select a list of operators... and so on... and this is just to find coaches who are registered for the Boys 3rd/4th grade division. it's so frustrating! Then there are the things you can't do at all... like add an extra email address... This happens all of the time... As an admin, I get requests from parents to add another email address... and I CAN'T DO IT! Only the person who created the account can add additional notification email addresses, and even then (in at least one case) they still don't get emails form the system. And the emails you do get have automatic advertising.... and are definitely NOT mobile friendly. It gets worse from there- Coaches HATE, HATE, HATE using SportsEngine to try and upload schedules or even send messages to their team. They actually voted to go back to email.

Product good ZERO live support

Comments: Disaster. Product has no value without support when you need it.

Pros:

Product and function, live in the moment updates

Cons:

Client “success”. Only BOT support available.

Alternatives Considered: ManyCam

Reasons for Choosing SportsEngine: Features and sales person. They also sold product with an assigned account manager.

Switched From: QuickBooks Online

Customer Service & Support...not here

Comments: It's fines as long as you don't need help. If you find yourself needing help just know it's going to more than likely not going to happen the same day. If you go online to request their help they ask you to select 5 minutes of 15 minutes of help time....what the heck...what if my problem takes 20 minutes

Pros:

Recurring billing but due to lack of customer support it's not worth it

Cons:

SportsEngine leadership clearly see customer service and support as overhead and does everything in their power to keep this expense down to maximize their bottom line.

Alternatives Considered: Stack Sports

Reasons for Switching to SportsEngine: recurring billing but I'm leaving SportsEngine because the customer service & support is a nightmare

Sport Engine has been great for my league since the first day I changed over to their website.

Pros:

First off, it's very professional looking! Which is a big selling point for my league. The look created legitimacy for my league. The support staff has been excellent to work with! From the Sales Representative and Account Manager I work with, all the way through Registration and Tech Support departments, all have been helpful, and prompt when doing so! I honestly believe the professional look of my website has given my business the edge over the competition in my market. And last, but certainly not least, the website is super easy for the user like me to edit, post pictures, video and content to my website.

Cons:

I don't dislike anything about Sport Engine's websites, or them as a company. If there was anything that could be thought of as a negative, or a drawback, is that as a new company, they have a lot of great new ideas and features that they plan to roll out in the future, but things like that take time to develop, so making sure they're done right for the sake of the customer is what is important. Patience is the virtue we all must have until those new features are brought to use.

SportsEngine is by far the easiest sports related software platform I've ever used.

Comments: Ease of use, improved communication and much more.

Pros:

As the Director the Mankato Sports Commission as well as being involved at a volunteer level for numerous sports organizations I have been exposed to and had to use many different sports related software/website platforms. SportsEngine is hands down the best of any I have ever used. In minutes I can show somebody who has never used the software a few basic things and get them up to speed enough that they can easily help manage a website on this platform. I love that you don't need to know how to write code or really any technical aspects in order to make changes or updates.

Cons:

Occasionally I run into things I'd like to do on our website that are not available as options however the SportsEngine team always gets back to me in timely fashion to either let me know of a way to do it or let me know if that is something they are working on.

SportsEngine has been a great partner and provider for our organization for nearly a decade.

Comments: We currently use the software for our website, a mobile app, tournament software, background screening and online registrations.

Pros:

The best part about SportsEngine's platform is how easy it is to use. It is very simple for administrators who don't have a computer science or programming background to learn how to use the site and create a great online presence. Another great feature of this software is how it is being continuously improved. There are a number of features and functionality available today are weren't just a couple of years ago, and product enhancements continue to be launched frequently.

Cons:

Registration fees include a transaction fee and a percentage-based processing fee. These seem small up front, but they can really add up if you process a significant number (or high priced) registrations.

Terrible product for Organization management

Pros:

Nothing. There is literally nothing I like most about this software.

Cons:

I can't think of one redeeming thing about this platform. It's terrible for administrators and families alike The communication tools are awful (the texts alert you to check your email... super redundant... it's 2021!!!) The registration platform doesn't actually work as their videos claim, and the app is so super glitchy that when managers change events, the changes "stick" less than half the time. There is ZERO customer service, I have yet to speak to an actual person. The only reason we stuck with them for so long was because US Club used them.. We're leaving ASAP and you should, too!!!

Great for Youth Baseball

Comments: This product helped save all the bac and forth via text messages with parents, it allowed parents to tell me if their son or daughter can make a game or practice and it also allows me keep track of the games within the app. Nothing but a great convenient experience.

Pros:

I love how it's easy to manage your team, and send out notifications, schedules and game updates to all the parents without having to send out the info via a group text which can get messy.

Cons:

There isn't much that I don't like about the software. I just wish there was a way to force the parents to RSVP however that isn't a software issue.

Great platform for teams, camps and clinics

Comments: Overall, I have found that SportsEngine is a wonderful platform. It is easy to work with, great for camps and clinics and teams.

Pros:

I loved how easy it was to schedule camps, tracking students and the flexibility to make adjustments. The software is easy to learn and if you get stuck at all your rep is really easy to get a hold of.

Cons:

I did not like that I could not really customize my own website. I really wanted my website to look unique and similar to my previous site. It was hard to work around their existing templates.

Great Product! Great Customer Service

Pros:

I love using SportsEngine software. It has made having a functional website even easier. From the design to the daily use and customer service, every part of the partnership has exceeded my expectations.

Cons:

Nothing, it has been a perfect option for our club.

Great comprehensive product

Comments: I have used the package for years. I first set up a brand new club page from the ground up. I have used it for seasons, leagues, setting up mini tournaments/super series and run entire leagues. I like the features and modules available I think it gives good branding and functionality.

Pros:

I find the scheduling and registration aspects easy to use. It creates calendars that can easily be subscribed to and share among players or members. Items and registrations let you track income lines

Cons:

It can be a little complicated to FIRST get setup. Setting up discounts is still not as easy-peasy as I would like.

Our experience has been terrific. Great company to do business with, Highly recommend.

Pros:

Very user friendly and great support. SportsEngine team is always working on updates and continuing to make the software better. They have great knowledge of their products and their client's needs and work to produce great results. The online registration process has been a huge asset for our department.

Cons:

I really can't think of anything that I dislike that wouldn't be something petty. If I had to pick something it would be the slightly different look from a computer to Ipad to smart phone.

SportsEngine review

Pros:

Very robust and easy to use. Easy for admin, easy for coaches, easy for trainers, easy for parent and easy for team moms. I also like how you can customize reports with ease.

Cons:

Customer service is kinda a pain. You have to schedule a call for help, or wait long waiting times to get help through a chat. No 1-800 help line available. Once you finally get someone, they are usually very helpful.

Best Website and club management system on the market.

Comments: Great looking site, that is easy to manage, and a great system that manages the club registration and team's for me.

Pros:

The ability to manage a travel club all through the site and software is perfect for any team or organization of any size.

Cons:

It doesn't have a POS component yet. With a multisport facility that includes a sports bar, smoothie bar, and pro shop it makes it a bit difficult to manage them all through the site.

Poor Customer Support

Comments: We decided against renewing this software because of the customer support....or lack of. Getting simple help in changing financial information (which must be done by SE, not the user) such as bank accounts, payment options, etc. takes weeks or months to accomplish. Not an option in the real world.

Pros:

Overall very good software. Many features are better than other competitors.

Cons:

Learning is all through tutorials and videos. Most are dated, and don't exactly match current software. Getting in-person help is frustrating and not timely.

High School Activity Office

Comments: Setting up and using has been great. I continue to learn of new feature to use and find the SportEngine staff to be very helpful with questions.

Pros:

I love the flexibility of the registration process and how easy it is to share/train sponsors.

Cons:

That I can't use my finance system to include payments.