How to Build a Burly WordPress Multisite Network for Sports Teams
Creating a WordPress Multisite network for sports teams is a huge undertaking like scoring a hat trick within 30 seconds of the last period. Unless you use SportsPress Pro.
Setting up a Multisite network and building multiple sites, each keeping scores, stats and events for different sports or teams is a cinch with SportsPress Pro.
You can also display game statistics from any of the sites across the entire network or a few sites with widgets. You can show scores, upcoming matches, player stats, sponsors and more.
It’s a mouthful, but it’s all a snap to set up and you can have the fundamental options up and running in about a few minutes.
Today, I’ll show you how to create a WordPress Multisite network of websites to easily track scores, players, sponsors, seasons, leagues and more for multiple sports or teams with the SportsPress Pro plugin.
Why Use SportsPress Pro?
SportsPress Pro has truckloads of features that are necessary for building a robust and seamless website or Multisite network for sports teams. From displaying teams and statistics to scheduling matches, SportsPress Pro does it all.
SportsPress Pro also includes these capabilities:
- Automatically calculate and display scores after you input them
- Add multiple teams and players with logos and detailed descriptions
- Display stats from some or all sub-sites across the network
- Widgets can show upcoming events, a list of players or staff, scoreboard, league table and more
- Accept club membership payments with WordPay
- Set up sponsors to be displayed as ads in your network
- Schedule future events and matches
- Enable league tracking and tables
- Create a custom color palette for each team
- Rebrand the WordPress admin dashboard with your own logo and colors
- Duplicate events, players, teams and just about anything else for a streamlined setup process
- A set up wizard to get you going in a few minutes
- A huge laundry list of other features
You can also check out a full list of all the features since there’s too many to list here.
There are two main ways you can set up your Multisite network with SportsPress Pro. You can create a network where:
- Sub-sites are set up for each team of the single sport you choose
- Each sub-site is used to display details for different sports
You can also choose to set up both implementations if you want.
Create a Multisite Network
Before you can start diving right in, you first need to install WordPress.
For details, check out A Guide to the Best Ways to Install WordPress.
Installing SportsPress Pro
Once that’s done, you’re ready to install SportsPress Pro to begin setting up your network.
To install SportsPress Pro, grab your copy from the My Plugins page after logging in to your ThemeBoy account. Then, download the ZIP file to your computer.
Next, go to Plugins > Add New in your super admin dashboard and click the Upload Plugin button at the top of the page. Select Choose File and select the plugin from your computer.
Click Install Now. When the page reloads to the confirmation page, click the Network Activate button.
The SportsPress Pro plugin is now installed on your Multisite network and it’s ready to be set up and configured.
Alternatively, you can install the free SportsPress – Sports Club & League Manager plugin from the WordPress.org repository. You can also install it directly from your WordPress site as well.
Then, activate it and go to SportsPress > Settings. Enter your licence key on the right hand side and click the Activate button.
Setting Up the Basics
Before you can configure settings to your heart’s content, start by creating a sub-site in your network for each sports team or sport that you need. Don’t forget to name each site accordingly.
Once you create each site, access its dashboard to see the installation wizard. Follow it along to get all the basics set up before your coffee’s finished brewing.
The SportsPress Pro Installation Wizard
Click the Let’s Go! button to start the setup wizard. On the next screen, you’re asked to select your time zone, the sport you want, the name of your league or division and the current season.
When selecting your time zone, you can enter a city name to narrow it down on the list for you to select it.
You can choose from 25 different sports or choose the custom option to create your own:
- American Football
- Australian Rules Football (Footy)
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Cricket
- Floorball
- Football (Soccer)
- Handball
- Ice Hockey
- Lacrosse
- Netball
- Rugby League
- Rugby Union
- Softball
- Volleyball
- Squash
- Table Tennis
- Tennis
- Water Polo
- Golf
- Darts
- Snooker
- Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO)
- Dota 2
- League of Legends (LOL)
- Create a custom sport
When you have made your basic selections, click Continue to name your first two teams. You can certainly add more later if you want. You just need two to get started.
Click Continue again to name a few of your players and a staff member for the team. Once again, you can certainly add more to the list later on. It’s no sweat.
Click Continue once again to select a venue. You can also enter its address to display a Google map of the location.
Once that’s done, click – you guessed it! – the Continue button.
Finishing Up with the Wizard
A number of pages are created automagically in the setup wizard including:
- Calendar
- League Table
- Player List
- Sponsor Page
- Staff Directory, and
- Tournament page
You can choose to select the Skip this step button or Continue to go ahead and create those pages if they aren’t already set up.
That’s it. The basic setup is complete. On the final page of the wizard, you can click the Schedule your first event! button to move forward with the next step and create an event or match.
Creating Multiple Team or Sports Websites
Now that the general configuration is complete, you can fine tune everything to accomplish what you need from your Multisite network for sports teams.
You can add more events, players, teams, staff members and sponsors for each site as needed.
Going the Distance
In each sub-site of the network, you should see all the available options in the navigation of each admin dashboard.
Under Events, you can view a list of upcoming events that have been created, create a new match or event, view a list of venues and edit or add more of them, edit and add calendars as well as tournaments.
You can also create teams and league tables as well as view a list of the teams that have been created under Teams.
Under Players there are options available for adding and editing players and positions and you can also view a list containing both of them.
Not only can you add sponsors and their logos as ads on each of your sites in the network under the Sponsors navigation menu item, but you can also add staff members and define their job descriptions and titles. Creating a directory for all the staff is not only an option, it’s also a cinch to do.
There are also a whole ton of configuration options in the SportsPress section where you can customize everything you could possibly want and even access shortcodes to display whatever you want and anywhere on a page or post.
Once you have everything you need set up, you can style each site, as needed.
It may also be important to note that there are eye catching themes available that were designed for sports teams and sites. For details, check out the ThemeBoy SportsPress Themes.
Wrapping Up
Building a Multisite network for sports teams doesn’t have to be difficult and you don’t have to dread doing it. Instead, you can follow these setup details for SportsPress Pro in a snap.
For more details on setting up and using SportsPress Pro, check out the available HelpDesk and documentation.
What’s your plan for creating a Multisite network for sports teams? How many sites, sports, teams, players, events and sponsors do you plan on setting up? Feel free to share your experience with us on Twitter and Facebook.
