Every official club that joins the Cup Series is bought into a season with a clear shape: six divisions, a fixture list built for you, and a Finals Weekend to chase. Here’s exactly how the Bear Digital Cup Series works, from squad selection to trophy.
Six divisions, built around your rating
The league splits into six competitive divisions — three men’s, three women’s — each banded by Playtomic rating so clubs meet opponents genuinely close to their level. Men’s: Social (2.5 to 3.5), Challenger (3.5 to 4.5) and Premier (4.5 and up). Women’s: Social (2 to 3), Challenger (3 to 4) and Premier (4 and up). Due to demand, each division now carries up to 20 official clubs, in two groups of up to 10, and every club enters a squad in all six divisions — 2 to 4 players per division (we recommend four), selected through open trials or the club’s own selection — led by a designated Club Owner, who handles club management, home venue, kit and branding, sponsors, and stays the club’s main point of contact with Cup Series Admin.
A season built for you, not around you
Cup Series Admin organises and manages every official fixture. Every official club has its own home venue, so Admin builds a full home & away round-robin schedule — every club in your group plays every other club in the group once, with the fixtures split as evenly as possible between home and away. In a full group of 10 clubs, that’s 9 fixtures each. Admin publishes the date, time and venue for every match well ahead of the season. You don’t chase opponents to arrange fixtures yourself; the schedule is set before a ball is hit.
What Admin handles, and what’s on your club
Admin takes care of the divisions, the fixture list, the standings and Finals Weekend. Your club takes care of turning up, hosting its home fixtures at its home venue, and sorting its Nordee club kit. Entry is R3,000 per division — R18,000 per club across all six divisions — and covers every league fixture plus entry to Finals Weekend. Court fees are the clubs’/players’ responsibility and are paid at each fixture, and kit isn’t included, so budget for those separately.
Wins are worth 3 league points, losses 0, and standings are settled by games difference, then games for, then head-to-head if clubs finish level.
The road to Finals Weekend
After the regular season, the top 4 clubs in each group qualify for the knockout stage at Finals Weekend. The quarter-finals cross the groups: A1 plays B4, B2 plays A3, B1 plays A4 and A2 plays B3. The quarter-final winners meet in the semi-finals, and the semi-final winners meet in the Division Final. Finish higher in your group and you’re rewarded with an easier quarter-final draw.
Any of a club’s registered players can represent them during Finals Weekend — there’s no minimum regular-season appearance requirement, and squads can be rotated from fixture to fixture as the Club Owner sees fit.
Prize money across every division
The Bear Digital Cup Series pays out R180,000 in total across the six division champions:
Fair play, from the first fixture to the final point
Cup Series is competitive, but it runs on respect — for opponents, venues, officials, sponsors and Admin. Abusive behaviour, deliberate cheating or repeated misconduct can mean warnings, point deductions, match forfeiture or removal from the competition, and Cup Series Admin retains final authority over how the rules are applied.
That’s the structure. Clubs interested in joining the Cup Series can get in touch to find out more — contact us and we’ll take care of the rest.
