How Much Should You Charge per Competitor at a Taekwondo Tournament?

Set your entry fee too low and you lose money. Set it too high and clubs stop entering. Here is a practical framework for pricing a taekwondo tournament in 2026, with real UK benchmarks and a worked example that breaks even at 80 entries.

UK 2026 benchmarks

Across the UK in 2026, typical entry fees for taekwondo competitions land in these ranges:

• Interclub events — £15 to £25 per fighter, single event
• Open competitions — £25 to £35 for the first event, £8 to £12 per additional event
• National-style championships — £35 to £50 per event, often with mandatory ITC fees
• Federation events — £45 to £75 with squad selection implications

Family discounts (third sibling free, 2-for-£40, etc.) are normal. Spectator entry is usually £3 to £5 per adult, free for under-12s.

The break-even formula

Before you set your fee, work out your fixed costs. For a typical 100-fighter interclub at a school hall:

• Hall hire: £150–£300
• Insurance / day cover: £50
• Medals + certificates: £150 (£1.50 per medal × 100)
• Software: £39–£349 depending on plan
• First aider: £80
• Refs / judges (if paid): £200

Total fixed: roughly £700–£900. To break even at 80 fighters you need ~£10 per fighter just to cover costs. Charge £20 and your margin is £800.

Multi-event pricing — how to do it right

If a fighter enters sparring + patterns + breaking, do not charge them three full fees. Charge a meaningful first fee and a small add-on:

• £25 for first event
• £10 for second
• £5 for third

This drives multi-entry, fills your patterns and breaking categories (which are usually under-subscribed), and feels generous to coaches.

Family and club discounts

Family discount: third child free or third entry half price. Make it visible on the entry form — it sells extra entries.

Club discount: bring 10+ fighters and the coach enters free, or you waive £2 per fighter for the bringing club. This is how you grow attendance year on year — repeat business from clubs that feel valued.

Collecting fees without losing your mind

Bank transfer reconciliation is a nightmare. Stripe + a proper online entry form (like the one in TKD Manager Standard or Professional) collects entry fees automatically against each fighter, gives you a Stripe dashboard for refunds, and exports a clean CSV at the end. The fee is around 1.5% + 20p — way less than the cost of an hour of your time chasing payments.

For more on online entries, see our guide on online registration for taekwondo competitions.