01
Put waitlists where demand is already visible
Waitlists work where more people want a slot than can have it. That is peak courts, popular classes, and open play. They do nothing on a Wednesday at 14:00, and turning them on there just teaches players that the waitlist never moves.
Start with the 3 places demand shows itself: the 19:00 and 20:00 weekday courts, the 2 or 3 classes that fill within a day of opening, and every open play session. Add more once players have seen the waitlist deliver.
Keep the list per slot, not per day. A player who wants Thursday at 19:00 does not want Thursday at 21:00, and an offer for the wrong hour is declined, which costs a hold period every time.
- Peak court hours that fill every week
- Classes that reach capacity within a day of going live
- Open play sessions with a roster cap
02
Offer the slot with a hold, not a broadcast
When a cancellation lands, the slot goes to the first person on the list as an offer they can accept or decline, and it is held for them while they decide. A hold of 15 minutes is enough for a class or a court that is more than a day away. For a slot in the next 4 hours, use 5 minutes and move down the list faster.
Do not broadcast the slot to everyone at once. A broadcast produces 6 taps within a minute, 5 disappointed players, and a support message from each of them. One offer at a time is slower by a few minutes and fair every time.
When an offer is declined or expires, the player stays on the list for that slot unless they leave it. They may still want next week, and dropping them silently produces a complaint at the desk.
03
Decide the order and publish it
First come, first served is the rule players expect and the one that needs no explanation. A club that wants to favour members can give members a place ahead of non-members joining after them, but the order must be stated on the waitlist screen when a player joins. A silent members-first rule looks like queue jumping.
Show each player their position. A player who knows they are third on the list for Thursday at 19:00 books a different hour and keeps the place. A player who does not know their position books nothing and calls the desk.
- First come, first served by default
- Members ahead of later non-members only if it is written on the join screen
- Position visible to the player from the moment they join
04
Take payment on acceptance and refund the canceller
The player who accepts the offer pays for the slot at that moment, the same way as a normal booking. The player who cancelled inside the window gets their refund only once the slot is resold, if that is the club’s policy. Many clubs refund late cancellations only when the waitlist fills the slot, which makes the policy feel fair rather than punitive.
Whichever way the club decides, the rule goes on the booking page next to the cancellation window. The two rules are read together by every player who is deciding whether to cancel.
Keep the hold and the payment step together. An accepted offer that asks the player to pay later turns into another cancellation, because the player has nothing invested until the card is charged.
05
Check that the list is actually reselling hours
Once a month, count the cancellations on waitlisted slots and how many were refilled. A refill rate under half means the hold is too long, the list is on the wrong slots, or notifications are not reaching players. A list with 12 names that never moves is a sign the cap or the price is wrong, not the waitlist.
Look at where on the list refills happen. If most offers are accepted by the first or second person, the list is healthy. If offers routinely reach the fifth person, the players at the top joined weeks ago and never cleaned up, and a monthly reminder asking them to leave lists they no longer want will speed everything up.