Pub Quiz Entry Fee and Prizes: What to Charge and What to Give Away

Get the money wrong and a quiz night struggles, however good the questions are. Charge too much and casual teams don't bother. Charge too little and there's nothing worth winning. Give away the whole pot every week and there's never a reason to come back.

This is how I set the entry fee, split the money, and pick prizes so the night pays for itself and still feels generous.

How much should you charge for a pub quiz?

Somewhere between £1 and £3 per person covers nearly every pub quiz in the country.

• £1 a head suits a quiet village local, or a new quiz you are trying to build up. Nobody thinks twice about a pound.
• £2 a head is the most common and the one I'd start with. Enough to make a decent prize, low enough that it never puts anyone off.
• £3 or more works when you have a big, established crowd and a proper jackpot, or when the quiz is raising money for a charity.

Always charge per person, not per team. Per-team pricing rewards big teams and punishes couples, which is the opposite of what you want.

Where the money goes

The entry fee is not profit for the pub. The pub makes its money at the bar. The entry fee is there to fund the prizes, and the smartest way to spend it is to split it three ways.

A split that works:

• Half to the winning team on the night. A visible cash prize, handed over with a round of applause.
• A quarter to the rolling jackpot. More on that below.
• A quarter towards the quiz itself. Printing, a booby prize, or the cost of the questions if you buy them in.

With twelve teams of four at £2 a head, that's £96. £48 to the winners, £24 into the jackpot, £24 to cover costs. Everyone goes home feeling the night was worth it.

The rolling jackpot is your best retention tool

A jackpot is a separate prize that rolls over every week it isn't won. The usual way to run it: the winning team on the night gets one chance to answer a single, genuinely hard question. Get it right, win the pot. Get it wrong, it rolls over.

It works because of what it does to attendance. Once the jackpot reaches three figures, teams who skipped a week start turning up again, because nobody wants to be the team that wasn't there the week it was won.

A few things to get right:

• Make the question hard, not impossible. It should go every couple of months, not every couple of years. A jackpot that is never won stops feeling real.
• Write the figure everywhere. On the door, on the bar, on social media. "Jackpot now £240" sells a quiz night better than anything.
• Cap it if you need to. Some pubs cap the jackpot at £500 and send anything over that to charity. It keeps things sensible.

We covered how to use a jackpot to bring a quiet quiz back in how to restart your quiz night after summer.

Prizes that aren't cash

Cash is simple, but it isn't the only option, and sometimes a physical prize gets a bigger reaction.

• A bar tab. Costs the pub less than its face value and the money gets spent in the building.
• A bottle of wine or a bottle of something stronger. Always goes down well.
• A meal for the winning team. Great for pubs that do food on a quieter night.
• A meat raffle-style prize. Still one of the most popular prizes in British pubs, and nobody quite knows why.
• A free round of drinks for a round winner. Good for keeping interest up in the middle of the quiz.

Ask the landlord what they can put in. The quiz fills the pub on its quietest night, so it's a fair conversation.

Always have a booby prize

The team that comes last should get something, and it should be daft. A bag of Quavers, a novelty trophy, a tin of peaches, a single sprout at Christmas.

It sounds like a throwaway, but it matters. Coming last stops being embarrassing and becomes a bit of a laugh. Casual teams who would never win keep coming back, and they are the ones that fill the room.

Charity quiz nights

For a charity quiz, turn everything up. Charge £3 to £5 a head, ask local businesses to donate prizes, and run a raffle at half time. People expect to spend more when they know where the money is going.

Say at the start how much the night raised the last time you ran it. A target gives the room something to beat.

If you run quizzes for a registered charity, have a look at our free basic plan for charities.

The quick version

• Charge £2 a head, per person, not per team.
• Half to the winners, a quarter to the jackpot, a quarter to costs.
• Run a rolling jackpot and advertise the figure.
• Ask the pub to add a bar tab or a meal.
• Always give a booby prize.

Frequently asked questions

How much do pubs charge for a quiz?

Most pubs charge between £1 and £3 per person. £2 per person is the most common.

Is it legal to charge for a pub quiz in the UK?

Yes. A pub quiz is a game of skill, not chance, so charging an entry fee and giving prizes doesn't need a gambling licence. Raffles and prize draws are different and can come with their own rules, so check before adding one.

What is a good prize for a pub quiz?

A cash prize or bar tab for the winners, a rolling jackpot to keep people coming back, and a funny booby prize for last place.

How does a pub quiz jackpot work?

Part of each week's entry fee goes into a pot. The winning team gets one attempt at a hard question. If they get it right they win the pot. If not, it rolls over to next week.

The one cost you don't want is your own time. If writing 51 questions a week is eating your evenings, our packs come ready to print with the tiebreaker, picture round and answer sheets included. Try the free sample quiz first.

Mitch and Harry