The Challenge: Keeping Spectators Engaged at Community Tournaments
For Eccleston Park Tennis Club, a small community club just outside Liverpool, England, tournaments were always popular events—but there was a problem. Spectators couldn't follow the action unless they stood courtside for the entire match. Parents would arrive midway through their child's game with no idea of the score. Visitors would wander between five courts, unable to tell which matches were close.
Marc, a data analyst and volunteer at the club since age 17, explains what they needed:
"One of the things that was really kind of drew us to KeepTheScore was the simplicity of the tool. We wanted to try and enhance those tournaments based on having screens up around our tennis club that would tell people the actual live score that was happening on the tennis court, because we don't normally have that."
The club, formed in 1904 and run entirely by about 10 volunteers, needed a solution that would:
- Display real-time scores for spectators throughout the venue
- Work on a tight budget (£50 maximum for a 60-player tournament)
- Be simple enough for junior members to operate
- Work across multiple courts without complex setup
And critically, whatever they chose needed to help keep people at the club longer—buying food and drinks to support the not-for-profit organization.
Finding the Right Solution: Price Point and Simplicity
Marc started his search in April, looking for options ahead of the club's May tournament, the Merseyside Open—an event that draws players from clubs across Liverpool. He asked the UK's Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) for recommendations and searched online.
The LTA's official partner, a Dutch company called TTP, quoted £700 for one court for one day:
"That was just so far expensive. It was just something that we were never going to use."
Using ChatGPT to search for alternatives, Marc found KeepTheScore at the top of results and compared it to other options:
- TTP: £700/day - far beyond budget
- Stats-focused app: £60-70/month with player analytics, but lacked streaming integration and was app-based
- KeepTheScore: ~$20 for what they needed
But the decision wasn't just about price. During his trial of KeepTheScore, Marc discovered something crucial:
"It's such an easy tool to use. My 6-year-old nephew was able to do it... I could work it out, and it was that simple. I love the fact that when I showed you that screen before it had a tournament logo on it, it had all the tournament colors that matched how the club looked at the time."
The simplicity mattered because Marc wanted to hand off scorekeeping to junior members aged 14-15 who weren't playing in the tournament. With more complex tools:
"I don't think we'd be able to do that. We'd end up having less people who could help us out with it."
The Implementation: From Screens to Streaming
The Original Plan:
Marc's initial vision was straightforward: - Set up TVs around the club showing live scores - Have scorekeepers track matches using phones or laptops - Give spectators real-time updates so they'd know when to watch key moments
The Unexpected Discovery:
While experimenting with KeepTheScore during his trial, Marc noticed something in the interface:
"I literally pressed open display scoreboard, and it said, you can put this into say like your OBS streamlabs type of thing. I would not have looked into that if it didn't say that."
This discovery transformed the event. The club decided to stream the tournament on YouTube, embedding the live scoreboard into the video feed.
Equipment and Setup:
The setup was remarkably modest:
- Camera: ~£100 (initially tried iPhone, upgraded to basic camera)
- Accessories: Telescopic stand, microphone
- Total investment: ~£250 for reusable equipment
- Software: KeepTheScore embedded in YouTube stream via OBS
"We spent 250 pounds on it because we knew that it was never going to go anywhere. It wasn't something that was just for that tournament—next time we don't need to buy that."
The Tournament:
- Event: Merseyside Open (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
- Players: 60 participants, entry fee £15 each
- Scope: Started streaming finals on Sunday, expanded to all three days after seeing Friday's success
- Scorekeepers: 6-7 people rotating hourly, mostly using phones
- Courts: One main court with streaming, TVs showing scores around the venue
The Results: Beyond Expectations
Engagement at the Club
The impact on in-person attendance exceeded expectations:
"The feedback that we've had, people were just made up with it. That was one of the really big successes of the tournament that we managed to get a lot more people watching it online. And I imagine now, so the big advantage of that is I imagine that when we get to late November, December, and we start to sell tickets for next year, I've got a load of content that's on YouTube that I can cut down and put onto our socials."
The live scores did exactly what the club hoped—kept people at the venue:
"We knew that having a live score there would keep people there for longer. I don't think we realized the impact of what it would do. That was the thing that was really surprising for us."
The Streaming Breakthrough
What started as a last-minute addition became the tournament's standout feature:
- Organic sharing: Players shared stream links in WhatsApp groups across Liverpool tennis clubs
- Remote viewing: Parents, friends, and club members from other locations watched live
- Marketing content: Created library of YouTube footage for promotional use
The Most Meaningful Result
But the most powerful outcome was a story Marc shares with obvious emotion:
"One of the lads who got to the finals—his granddad's really not well at all. His granddad's not been able to watch him play tennis all year, because he can't leave the house. But we were able to share a link with him, and he managed to watch his grandson win a final. That type of stuff was just like all the effort that had got into it made it really, really nice, and something that we'd always do now."
Why It Works for Small Sports Clubs
Marc's club represents thousands of small, volunteer-run sports organizations with limited budgets but high ambitions to serve their communities. Their success with KeepTheScore offers a roadmap:
Budget-Conscious Decision Making
The club operates on tournament entry fees (£15 × 60 players = £900), with strict limits on spending. Marc's budget for scoring was maximum £50—anything more would eat into funds meant for facility improvements.
"Everything with our tennis club is that all the money that goes into there is spent on the tennis club."
The club grew from near-closure to 180 adult and 100 junior members through careful investment in courts, floodlights, and member experience.
The Power of Simplicity
Complex tools would have required Marc to operate everything himself. Instead:
"We could say to [junior members], 'Here's a link, will you do the scores for me for this game?' If it was much more complicated than what it is today, then I don't think we'd be able to do that."
This enabled a rotation of 6-7 scorekeepers switching hourly—crucial for maintaining accuracy over three full days.
Discovery Through Trial
Marc's decision happened quickly:
"Probably after first use. After the first use, it was fit for purpose, it looked really good, and we trialed it just on social nights... People were quite happy with it. So, as soon as we used it, we didn't look anywhere else."
No sales calls. No lengthy procurement. Just a quick trial on social play nights before committing.
Key Takeaways
For small sports clubs:
- Live scores increase concession revenue: Real-time updates keep spectators at the venue longer, increasing food and drink sales
- Streaming extends your community: Remote viewing connects families, creates shareable content, and builds interest for future events
- Simple tools enable volunteer organizations: Complex systems require dedicated operators; intuitive tools let you rotate volunteers
- Budget equipment is enough: A £250 one-time investment in basic streaming gear serves multiple events
- Mobile-first matters: When you have five courts and limited equipment, scorekeepers need to work from their phones
For tournament organizers:
- Real-time scores solve the "arrived late" problem for spectators
- Browser-based tools eliminate installation friction for volunteer scorekeepers
- Customization (logos, colors) makes events feel professional on a community budget
- Integration with streaming platforms creates unexpected engagement opportunities
- Success breeds expansion: Start with finals, expand to full tournament as confidence grows
Technical details that mattered:
- Multiple people can update scores simultaneously from different devices
- No training required beyond 2-3 minutes of observation
- Customizable display with tournament branding
- Browser-based (no apps to install on volunteers' phones)
- Embeddable in OBS/Streamlabs for YouTube streaming
Looking Forward
Eccleston Park Tennis Club plans to use KeepTheScore for all future major tournaments—typically 2-3 singles events and 5-6 doubles tournaments per year. Marc's approach reflects the reality of volunteer organizations:
"I'd probably buy it for a week. I get pro version for a week, and then I drop it, and then the next one I'd get the pro version for a week, and drop it. And the main reason for that is that it's not my money that I'm spending, and we're really, really careful."
The March-to-August tennis season in Britain is short. The budget is tight. But the impact is undeniable:
"I absolutely love the tool. It's brilliant, and it really, really helped us. It was fantastic."
Ready to bring live scoring and streaming to your tennis club? Get started with KeepTheScore for free and see how real-time scores can transform your tournament experience.