Create Your Own Sports Sim League
Pennant Chase lets you build and run a simulation league in baseball, basketball or football — stocked with real players from more than a century of history, on whatever schedule you choose. You set the rules; the sim engine plays the games.
Leagues here are run by their members. A commissioner sets the league up, invites owners, runs the draft and keeps the season moving. If that sounds like you, this page walks through what's involved and how to get started.
What you control
- Your sport. Baseball, basketball or football, each with its own sim engine and its own player database.
- Your player pool. Draw from a single season, a single decade, or the whole span of history. A tight pool makes for a sharper draft; an open one makes for stranger teams.
- Your league size. Set the number of teams to fit the group you've actually got.
- Your season length. Run a full schedule or a short one that finishes before everyone loses interest.
- Your draft. Hold a live draft room with everyone on the clock at once, let owners quick-draft on their own time, or have the computer distribute players and assign the rosters.
- Public or private. Open the league to anyone browsing the site, or keep it to the people you invite.
Getting started
Step 1 — Create a free account
Accounts are free and always have been. Playing on Pennant Chase costs nothing: you can join an existing league, draft a team and play out a full season without ever paying anything. Sign up here, or log in if you already have an account.
Step 2 — Take the commissioner tools for a test drive
Once you're logged in, this page opens a hidden practice league where you can click through every commissioner setting without breaking anything. Nothing you do there is permanent. It's worth twenty minutes before you commit to running a league of your own — being a commissioner is more work than it looks, and it's better to find that out in the sandbox.
Step 3 — Build your league
From there you name the league, pick the sport, choose the player pool and settings, and open it up for owners.
Donating
Running a custom league takes real server resources and, more to the point, a commissioner who sticks around. For that reason, we do encourage commissioners to donate, but it's not required.
If the donation is a genuine barrier, say so. Get an account, then reach out through the feedback form and tell us what you're trying to put together.
Running a league for a class
Teachers use Pennant Chase to run draft-and-analyze units where every student manages a franchise. Class leagues are free, and there are ready-made activities and printable worksheets for all three sports. See the educator resources.
Common questions
Do I have to pay to play on Pennant Chase?
No. Creating an account, joining leagues, drafting, trading and playing seasons are all free.
Which sports can I run a league in?
Baseball, basketball and football. Each has its own simulation engine and its own historical player database going back over a hundred years.
Can I try the commissioner tools before deciding?
Yes. Log in and come back to this page to open the test drive league, where every setting is live and nothing you change is permanent.
How many people do I need?
Enough to fill the teams you create, which is up to you. Small leagues of six or eight run fine, and you can list the league publicly to attract owners you don't already know.
How long does a season take?
That's a league setting. You choose how many games are played and how quickly the schedule advances, so a season can run anywhere from a couple of weeks to the better part of a year.
