Tournament design: A review from an operational research perspective
arXiv:2404.05034 · doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2024.10.044
Abstract
Every sport needs rules. Tournament design refers to the rules that determine how a tournament, a series of games between a number of competitors, is organized. This study aims to provide an overview of the tournament design literature from the perspective of operational research. Three important design criteria are discussed: efficacy, fairness, and attractiveness. Our survey classifies the papers discussing these properties according to the main components of tournament design: format, seeding, draw, scheduling, and ranking. We also outline several open questions and promising directions for future research.
37 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables