Saved Formats

Once you've built a structure you're happy with — the phases, the groups, the bracket, the scoring and the progression wiring — you can save it as a format and apply it somewhere else: another division of the same tournament, or a completely different tournament next season.

A format is a shape, not a competition. It carries how the tournament is organised; it never carries the teams, the matches, the results or the schedule.

Where to find it#

Both actions live on the Structure page, in the bar at the top:

• Save as format — appears as soon as there's a structure to save. It also works on a finished tournament, so you can capture a format that you know worked and run it again next season.
• Use a saved format — appears whenever the structure can still be edited. If the Structure page is empty and you already have formats saved, a Use a saved format button also appears on the empty state, next to Guided setup and Start blank.

What a format contains#

Saved:

• Every phase, with its name and type (Groups | League, Knockout | Single Match)
• Every group and knockout round, with its name and number of slots
• Per-group and per-round settings — points for win/draw/loss, extra time and penalty rules, best-of-N, tiebreaker order
• The automatic progression wiring between slots (e.g. "1st from Group A", "Winner of Semi-final 1")
• Third-place matches, shared-vs-separate standings tables, and the rest of each item's configuration

Not saved:

• Teams — slots come back empty, so fixtures read TBD until you place participants
• Matches, scores and results
• Kick-off times, venues and pinned slots
• Logos on phases

Inherited scoring stays inherited#

If a group or round has Use tournament defaults turned on, the format stores no points numbers for it — only the fact that it inherits. When you apply that format, the group inherits the target tournament's rules, not the ones from the tournament you saved it in. Groups and rounds with custom settings carry their own numbers across as-is.

That's why formats aren't restricted by sport: an inherited format brings no sport-specific scoring with it, and the shapes organisers build (two groups into semi-finals, eight-team bracket, and so on) recur across sports.

Saving a format#

1. Open the Structure page. In a multi-division tournament, select the division whose structure you want to capture — a format is always one division's structure.
2. Click Save as format.
3. Choose Save as a new format, or pick an existing format to replace it with what you have open now. Replacing keeps the name, so your list doesn't fill up with "Cup", "Cup v2", "Cup final".
4. Give it a name — something that describes the shape, e.g. "2 groups into a final four".
5. Click Save format.

Replacing an existing format asks for confirmation first, and the previous version can't be recovered.

Applying a format#

Applying a format is destructive. The current structure of the division you're on — along with its matches and any results already entered — is deleted and replaced.

1. Open the Structure page and select the division you want to rebuild.
2. Click Use a saved format.
3. Pick a format from the list. Each row shows a one-line summary of the shape (phases · groups · knockout matches) and the division it was saved from.
4. Read the warning — it names exactly what's being replaced: that division only in a multi-division tournament, or the whole structure in a tournament without divisions. Other divisions are never touched.
5. If any matches in that scope have pinned kick-off times, you must tick the extra checkbox confirming those times will be lost. Pinned times are work you did by hand, so they need their own deliberate confirmation.
6. Click Replace structure.

After applying#

• Slots are empty — place your teams with Draw teams or by hand.
• Matches are not generated yet. The Regenerate button picks up a gold Outdated badge; click it once your slots are filled.
• Progression wiring comes across intact. Any slot whose feeder phase has already finished resolves immediately.
• If the tournament had a schedule, it's flagged for review — see Matches & Scheduling.

Managing your formats#

Both dialogs show the same list, so you can manage formats from either one:

• Rename — click the pencil icon, type a new name, press Enter.
• Delete — click the bin icon and confirm. Tournaments already built from a format are not affected by deleting it.

Formats belong to your user account, not to a tournament — so they survive when a tournament is finished or archived, and they're available in every tournament you manage. You can keep up to 20 saved formats; the dialog shows "X of 20 saved" so you can see the cap coming. Delete one to make room for another.

Limits and edge cases#

• Plan limits apply. If a format has more stages or more groups than the target tournament's plan allows, applying is blocked with a See plans link rather than a dead end — upgrade the tournament, then apply.
• Finished tournaments can be saved from, but not applied to. Applying rebuilds the structure, which the finish lock prevents.
• Empty structures can't be saved — there has to be something there first.
• A format saved by a much older version of MyCup may need re-saving from a tournament that uses it; the dialog will tell you if so.

Related#

• Tournament Structure — building a structure in the first place
• Automatic Team Progression — the wiring that formats carry across
• Start next season — clone a whole tournament, teams and all, instead of just its shape