How to Invite Friends to Your Bracket Pool

Sharing Is the First Step

You have created your bracket pool, set up the scoring, and picked your pool name. Now comes the most important part — getting people in it. A pool with great settings but no participants is just an empty bracket.

BracketForge makes inviting friends straightforward with a few different methods depending on how your pool is configured.

Using the Invite Link

Every pool gets a unique invite link that you can share with anyone. Here is how to use it:

1. Go to your pool's management page
2. Find the invite link section — it displays a shareable URL
3. Copy the link and send it via text, email, Slack, Discord, or any messaging app
4. Recipients click the link, create an account (or sign in), and they are in your pool

The invite link is the fastest path from "want to join" to "picking their bracket." There is no approval step for public pools — clicking the link gets them in immediately.

Private Pools and Passwords

If your pool is password-protected, the invite link will prompt joiners to enter the password. This is useful for pools where you want to control exactly who gets in.

Tips for password-protected pools:

• Send the password separately from the invite link for extra security
• Use a simple, memorable password — "basketball2026" is fine, "xK9#mQ2v" will cause support requests
• Include the password in the same message as the link if convenience matters more than exclusivity

Public Pool Directory

If you want your pool to be discoverable by anyone, you can make it public. Public pools appear in the public pool directory, where any BracketForge user can browse and join.

Public pools work well for:

• Community competitions open to all
• Charity or cause-based pools
• Large-scale pools where you want maximum participation

Getting Stragglers to Submit Picks

The most common commissioner headache is people who join the pool but do not submit their bracket before the deadline. Here is how to handle it:

• Send reminders early and often. A week before, two days before, and the morning of the deadline.
• Share the lock deadline. BracketForge displays the exact lock time on the pool page. Share it explicitly: "Picks lock at 12:10 PM ET on Thursday."
• Use the pool message board. Post reminders directly in the pool where members will see them.
• Re-share the invite link. Some people lose the original link. Make it easy to find again.

Entry Limits

As commissioner, you can set a maximum number of entries per pool. If you are running a small friends-and-family pool, you might cap it at 20. For larger competitions, you might allow unlimited entries.

You can also allow multiple entries per person, letting participants submit different bracket strategies. See our commissioner's guide for more on managing pool settings.

Ready to Invite?

The best bracket pools have the best people in them. Start sharing your invite link now and get your group ready for tournament time. Need to set up your pool first? Check our getting started guide.