What is the difference between USSSA, AAU, and Perfect Game?

For a tournament host, the practical differences are insurance, bat and rules standards, whether there is a rankings or points system teams care about, regional strength, and cost structure. Regional strength usually decides it, because the best choice is normally whichever body your local teams already hold memberships with.

Do I need to sanction my youth baseball tournament?

No. Plenty of good local tournaments are unsanctioned. You do still need event liability insurance, which is available independently, and you have to write your own rules packet covering bats, run rules, time limits, pitching limits, and tiebreakers.

How do I choose a sanctioning body?

Start with your local teams rather than with the organisations. Find out what the teams you want to attract already carry, and what nearby tournaments are sanctioned under. A team that already holds the membership can enter at no extra cost; one that does not may simply skip your event.

Does sanctioning include insurance?

Usually it includes or requires event liability coverage, and most facilities will require a certificate naming them. Confirm what is covered and that they will issue the certificate before you commit.

Can I use Bleacher Notes for a sanctioned tournament?

Yes. Bleacher Notes is not a sanctioning body and does not replace one. You can run your event under any sanctioning you like and still host the live bracket, schedule, and standings here, which is free.

Tournaments

Which sanctioning body for your tournament.

For: Tournament directors
Covers: How to choose, what to ask
Our stake in it: None
Read: 8 min

Sanctioning bodies differ on five things that matter to a host: insurance, bat and rules standards, the ranking or points system, regional strength, and cost. Regional strength usually decides it, because the right one is whichever your local teams already carry cards for.

A first-time director usually asks which sanctioning body is best. That question does not have an answer, and chasing it wastes a planning cycle. The useful question is which one your local teams already belong to, because every other consideration is downstream of whether teams can enter your event without buying something new.

One thing worth saying plainly before the comparison: Bleacher Notes is not a sanctioning body and does not compete with one. We do scoring and event hosting, which sits alongside sanctioning rather than replacing it - you can run a sanctioned event and still host the live bracket here. That is why this page can be neutral, and you should weigh it accordingly.

Fees change annually and vary by region and age group, so this page does not print them. Every organisation publishes current rates; get them from the source rather than from a blog post that may be two seasons stale.

The five things that actually differ

Marketing materials make these organisations sound more different than they are. Operationally, a host is choosing between five variables.

Insurance: Most sanctioning includes or requires event liability coverage, and most facilities will demand a certificate naming them before you get keys. If you are already buying standalone event insurance, some of the sanctioning cost is replacing a bill you already have rather than adding one.
Bat and equipment standards: The single most practical difference, and the one that generates Saturday-morning arguments. Organisations certify bats to different standards, and a bat that is legal in one is not always legal in another. Whatever you choose, publish the standard in the rules packet in one unambiguous sentence.
Rankings and points: Some bodies run national or state rankings that teams accumulate points toward, which is a genuine draw for competitive travel teams choosing between two events on the same weekend. If your target field is rec or local travel, rankings are close to irrelevant.
Regional strength: Coverage is extremely uneven. An organisation that dominates one state is nearly absent two states away. This usually decides the question by itself.
Cost structure: Flat event fee, per-team fee, required team memberships, or some combination. What matters is not the headline number but who pays it - a per-team membership your teams already hold costs your event nothing, while one they do not is a barrier to entry disguised as a fee.

Start from your teams, not from the org

The deciding question is what your local teams already carry. A team that already holds a membership with a given body can enter your event with no extra cost and no extra paperwork. A team that does not has to buy in - and for a single weekend tournament, some of them simply will not.

So the research is local, not national. Look at what the other tournaments within a couple of hours of you are sanctioned under. Ask three or four coaches you already know what their team carries. The answer is usually obvious within a handful of calls and it is far more reliable than comparing feature lists.

This is also why the answer differs so sharply by region, and why asking online which body is best produces confident contradictory answers from people who are all correct about their own area.

When unsanctioned is the right answer

Plenty of good tournaments are not sanctioned at all. A local event drawing rec teams and nearby travel teams does not need a national ranking system, and the sanctioning fee buys you little if none of your teams care about points.

What you still need without sanctioning is the insurance. That is not the part to skip - it is a real liability and facilities will ask for the certificate regardless. Event coverage is available independently.

You will also need to write your own rules packet rather than pointing at someone else's rulebook, which is more work than it sounds. Bat standards, run rules, time limits, pitching limits, and tiebreakers all have to be stated explicitly. The upside is that you can set rules that fit your actual field rather than inheriting ones written for a national audience.

What to ask before you commit

Five questions, and you can get through them in one phone call each.

Item 1: What is the current total cost for an event my size, including anything my teams have to buy individually?
Item 2: What does the insurance cover, and will you issue a certificate naming my facility?
Item 3: Which bat standard applies at each age group I am running?
Item 4: How many sanctioned events ran within two hours of me last season?
Item 5: What are you going to do to help fill my event - listings, emails to member teams, anything - and what have those produced for a first-year event?

Sanctioning and live scoring are separate decisions

Directors sometimes assume that sanctioning brings the software with it, and that choosing one locks them into whatever bracket tool comes attached. In practice these are two decisions and they can be made independently.

Sanctioning governs the rules, the insurance, and the competitive credential. What teams and families actually look at all weekend is the bracket and the schedule - who is on which field, at what time, and who they play next. There is no reason those have to be the same system, and the one families stare at all weekend is worth choosing on its own merits.

Common questions

What is the difference between USSSA, AAU, and Perfect Game?: For a tournament host, the practical differences are insurance, bat and rules standards, whether there is a rankings or points system teams care about, regional strength, and cost structure. Regional strength usually decides it, because the best choice is normally whichever body your local teams already hold memberships with.
Do I need to sanction my youth baseball tournament?: No. Plenty of good local tournaments are unsanctioned. You do still need event liability insurance, which is available independently, and you have to write your own rules packet covering bats, run rules, time limits, pitching limits, and tiebreakers.
How do I choose a sanctioning body?: Start with your local teams rather than with the organisations. Find out what the teams you want to attract already carry, and what nearby tournaments are sanctioned under. A team that already holds the membership can enter at no extra cost; one that does not may simply skip your event.
Does sanctioning include insurance?: Usually it includes or requires event liability coverage, and most facilities will require a certificate naming them. Confirm what is covered and that they will issue the certificate before you commit.
Can I use Bleacher Notes for a sanctioned tournament?: Yes. Bleacher Notes is not a sanctioning body and does not replace one. You can run your event under any sanctioning you like and still host the live bracket, schedule, and standings here, which is free.