Tournament design: A review from an operational research perspective

Karel Devriesere, László Csató and Dries Goossens

European Journal of Operational Research, 2025, vol. 324, issue 1, 1-21

Abstract: Every sport needs rules. Tournament design refers to the rules that determine how a tournament, a series of games between a number of competitors, is organized. This study aims to provide an overview of the tournament design literature from the perspective of operational research. Three important design criteria are discussed: efficacy, fairness, and attractiveness. Our survey classifies the papers discussing these properties according to the main components of tournament design: format, seeding, draw, scheduling, and ranking. We also outline several open questions and promising directions for future research.

Keywords: OR in sports; Ranking; Scheduling; Seeding; Tournament design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ejores:v:324:y:2025:i:1:p:1-21

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2024.10.044

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