Player Guide · Rules

How to
Play

Season 1 · 2026 · Competitive Fitness · Free to Play
Contents
What is Podium Draft? Getting Started Building Your Team Athlete Types How Points Work Multipliers Pre-Workout Pump (PWP) Bonus XP Days & Lockout Leaderboard & Rankings Rules & Fair Play

What is Podium Draft?

Podium Draft is a fantasy draft game built around real competitive fitness events. You pick a team of real athletes, they compete in the real world, and you earn points based on how they finish.

No betting. No entry fees. No prizes. Just the game — and the bragging rights that come with picking the right team.

The core idea

Draft smart. Watch closer. Compete against everyone else who thinks they know fitness better than you do.

Getting Started

1
Create your account

Register at app.podiumdraft.com with your email, a display name, and a username. It takes two minutes.

2
Enter a competition

From your dashboard, find an open competition and click Enter. Each competition has its own athlete roster and XP budget.

3
Draft your team

Pick 3 male mains, 3 female mains, 1 male wildcard, and 1 female wildcard — all within your budget. Choose carefully.

4
Set your Pre Worrkout Pump

Pick one athlete from your team and one event number. If they place in that event, their points double. This is your edge pick.

5
Watch and score

Points update in real time as event results come in. Check the leaderboard. See how your picks stack up against every other manager.

Building Your Team

Every competition comes with an XP budget. Every athlete on the roster has a cost in XP. You cannot go over budget — so every pick is a trade-off.

Team Structure

You cannot select the same athlete in two slots. You cannot place a female athlete in a male slot or vice versa.

Budget tip

High-cost Veterans offer reliability. Low-cost Rookies carry multipliers that can blow up your score — or fizzle. The best teams balance both.

Athlete Types

Veteran
Established athletes. Higher cost, reliable points, standard scoring. No main slot multiplier.
Rookie
1.5×
Newer athletes. Lower cost, earn 1.5× base points in main slots. Higher reward if they perform.

Status is set by the competition admin based on the athlete's competitive history at this level. It does not change mid-competition.

How Points Work

Every event, athletes earn base points based on their finishing position. Base points are then multiplied depending on the slot they're in and their status.

Base Points by Position

1st100
2nd97
3rd94
4th91
5th88
6th85
7th82
8th79
9th76
10th73
11th70
12th67
13th64
14th61
15th58
16th55
17th52
18th49
19th46
20th43
21–2540–28
26–3025–10
31+0
DNF0
DNS0

Points decrease by 3 per position from 1st through 30th. Athletes finishing outside the top 30 or who do not finish (DNF) score zero for that event.

Multipliers

Multipliers apply on top of base points. They are the engine of the game — the difference between a safe pick and a high-risk, high-reward play.

PWP — Pre-Workout Pump
Your nominated athlete scores double base points in your chosen event. Pick wisely — you lock this before competition day.
Rookie — Main Slot
1.5×
Any Rookie in a main athlete slot earns 1.5× their base points per event. Reward for backing the up-and-comers.
Wildcard — Veteran
1.5×
A Veteran placed in a wildcard slot earns 1.5× base points. Steady returns with a slight premium for the wildcard slot.
Wildcard — Rookie
The highest multiplier in the game. A Rookie in a wildcard slot earns 3× base points. The definition of boom-or-bust.
Multiplier stacking note

PWP and slot multipliers do not stack with each other — PWP applies to the base points only for that one event. All other events use the slot multiplier as normal.

Pre-Workout Pump (PWP)

Before each competition day locks, you nominate one athlete from your team and one event number. If that athlete places in that specific event, their base points are doubled for that event only.

How it works

Example

You nominate Tia-Clair Toomey for Event 3. She finishes 2nd (97 base pts). With PWP active, she scores 194 pts for that event instead of the standard Veteran main rate of 97 pts.

Bonus XP

At the end of each competition day, bonus XP is awarded automatically. Bonus XP adds directly to your budget, giving you more spending power for team changes on subsequent days.

Top Manager
+2,000 XP
Awarded to the manager with the highest single-day score.
Contrarian Pick
+1,500 XP
Awarded if you own a low-ownership athlete who scored points that day.
Rookie of the Day
+1,000 XP
Awarded to all managers who own the highest-scoring Rookie of the day.

Bonus XP is visible on your competition page. It carries into the next day's budget and can be used to upgrade your team during the selection window.

Days & Lockout

Multi-day competitions run across several days of events. Each day has a lockout time — once locked, your team and PWP selection for that day are final.

Lockout

Injury Substitution

Leaderboard & Rankings

Competition Leaderboard

Ranks all managers in a competition by total points — the sum of all day scores plus any Bonus XP earned. Updated after every scored event.

Season Rankings

The season leaderboard aggregates your total XP across all competitions you've entered. The more competitions you play, the more you can accumulate.

Event Delta

Your leaderboard row shows a delta figure after each event — the points you earned from the most recently scored event. A quick read on whether your picks are working in the current session.

Rules & Fair Play

Scoring disputes

If you believe a score has been entered incorrectly, email admin@podiumdraft.com with the subject line "DISPUTE" before the competition ends. We aim to respond within 24 hours during an active event. See the full Dispute Resolution page for details.

Coming soon.
Free to play · Currently in closed beta