How to Run a Football Squares Pool

Football squares (Super Bowl squares, box pool, 100-square grid – all the same game) is the one football pool anybody can play: no football knowledge required, nothing to manage during the season, and winners are decided purely by the score at the end of each quarter. This guide explains the grid, the number draw, the winner structures, and the variations – and if you want to skip the poster board entirely, squares pools are completely free to host on SimplySportsWare, including random number assignment and automatic quarter-by-quarter winners.

How squares works

1. The grid. Draw a 10x10 grid: 100 squares. One team gets the columns, the other team gets the rows.
2. Members claim squares. Everyone claims as many squares as they like, writing their name in each. Squares are claimed before any numbers exist, so every square is a equal.
3. The number draw. Once all 100 squares are claimed, the digits 0 through 9 are randomly assigned across the columns and again down the rows. This must happen after squares are claimed – that is what keeps it fair.
4. Winning. At the end of each quarter, take the last digit of each team's score. The square where that column and row meet wins. Example: at halftime the score is 17–13 – the square at column 7, row 3 wins Q2.

Winner structures

Decide the split before anythig else. The two most common structures:

• Equal quarters: 25% per quarter. Simple and keeps everyone watching.
• Escalating: for example 15% / 20% / 20% / 45%, weighting the final score. The most popular Super Bowl structure.

Overtime rule: This is based on final score.

Running it well: the three rules that prevent disputes

1. Numbers are drawn after the grid is full, in a way members can verify. On paper, that means drawing cards in front of witnesses; online, the platform randomizes and timestamps the draw.
2. Publish the winning structure and overtime rule before opening the pool.
3. Post the completed grid where everyone can see it before kickoff. Nobody should have to ask "which square is mine?" during the game.

SimplySportsWare never collects or distributes entry fees – and squares hosting is free.

A worked example

Say your office runs a Super Bowl grid at one claim per square, with the escalating 15% / 20% / 20% / 45% structure. All 100 squares are claimed by Friday; numbers are drawn Saturday. Maria ends up with column 7, row 0. The game goes 7–3 after Q1 (column 7, row 3 – not Maria), 17–13 at the half (7 and 3 again – same square wins twice, which is normal), 20–13 after Q3 (0 and 3), and finishes 27–20: column 7, row 0 – Maria wins the 45% final-score. Notice two things commissioners should set expectations about: the same square can win multiple quarters, and "bad number" squares sometimes win it all – that is what keeps a random-draw grid fun for everyone.

Paper grid vs. online grid

For ten coworkers in one room, poster board works. The paper grid starts failing when the group is remote (someone has to photograph the board and field "which square is mine?" texts all game), when square selections go slowly (you cannot draw numbers until it is full, and chasing the last 15 squares is the commissioner's least favorite job), and at verification time (a hand-drawn number row is exactly the kind of thing disputes are made of). An online grid solves all three: members claim squares from a link, the platform randomizes numbers at lock with a timestamp, and quarter winners are announced automatically. Since squares hosting is free on SimplySportsWare, the paper grid's only remaining advantage is nostalgia.

Hosting squares online, free

A poster board works for one office. It does not work for a group spread across cities, and someone still has to draw numbers, track quarters, and settle the "wait, who had 7-3?" arguments. SimplySportsWare squares pools are free to host – not a trial, actually free: members claim squares online, numbers are assigned randomly at lock, and quarter winners are calculated automatically from live scores. This works for the Super Bowl, any NFL or college game, and playoff squares pools. Set up a free squares pool.

Frequently Asked Questions