Every club board meeting in Alberta eventually hits the same agenda item: the website is outdated, registration is a mess of forms and e-transfers, the platform fees look high, and the one volunteer who understood the old system just moved to Kelowna.
These are the questions boards actually ask about websites and registration platforms, answered with 2026 numbers — including the fee math most clubs never total up.
What do the registration platforms actually cost?
The two names every club hears, priced for 2026:
- TeamSnap: $0–$150 per team per year, plus roughly 3.25% + $1.50 per transaction. Strong at team communication and light scheduling; thin on memberships, invoicing, and facility booking.
- SportsEngine HQ: roughly $804–$2,208 per year, plus 3.2–3.5% and per-transaction fees. Full club management — registration, memberships, invoicing, fundraising — priced accordingly.
Now the math clubs skip: take a club registering 300 members at $200 each — $60,000 through the system. At ~3.25% + $1.50, the transaction fees alone are about $2,400 a season, on top of the platform fee. Over five years that's $12,000+ in fees for the privilege of collecting your own registrations — real money for an organization that fundraises in $500 increments.
We have TeamSnap and a Facebook group — do we still need a website?
Yes, because those tools face inward, at people already in the club. The growth problem is outward: a family that just moved to town googles "soccer club okotoks" or "u11 hockey registration" — and what Google shows is websites. No website means the club that actually has space on its rosters is invisible at the exact moment families choose where to register.
The club website has one primary job: convert a searching parent into a registration. Programs, fees posted honestly, dates, and a registration button that works on a phone. Everything else — history, photos, sponsor logos — is supporting cast.
Can we take payments without giving up a percentage?
Partly. Card processing itself — about 2.9% + 30¢ through Stripe — is the cost of accepting cards anywhere, and e-transfer-and-spreadsheet is what it replaces (ask your treasurer what their evenings are worth). What's avoidable is the platform's percentage stacked on top of processing. A registration flow on the club's own website with Stripe direct keeps everything but the card fee.
The volunteer-turnover test: before adopting any system, ask — could a brand-new volunteer run this after a one-hour handover? Clubs don't usually outgrow their tools; they lose the one person who knew how the five tools were duct-taped together. Fewer systems, documented, beats more features, every time.
When does owning a custom club platform make sense?
Not for a single team — TeamSnap at $150/yr is the right answer there. The ownership math starts working when the club is juggling a website + registration platform + payment forms + a newsletter tool + membership spreadsheets, paying percentage fees on five figures of registrations, and re-training volunteers on the pile every season.
A custom build consolidates that: $6,000 one-time for a club site with one core workflow (registration + Stripe payments), or $8,000 for the full admin — events, members, payments, newsletter — in one system the club owns outright. No annual platform fee, no percentage on top of card processing, no per-team pricing, and handover is one login and an hour. Optional support from $100/mo if no volunteer wants to touch anything technical. Against $2,000–$4,000/year in platform-plus-fees, it typically pays for itself inside three seasons — and the club owns the asset.
What should be on the website itself?
In order of what searching families actually look for: current programs with fees posted (hiding fees loses registrations), season dates and deadlines, the registration button above the fold, location and contact, real photos, then sponsors — visible, since they pay for it. Keep it that simple and the site does its job: it turns searches into sign-ups, which is the only metric a club website has.
Want a straight answer for your club?
Book a free 30-minute diagnostic. Bring your registration numbers and what you pay now — I'll show you what the platform fees add up to and whether owning your system makes sense at your size.
Book My Free Diagnostic →