Getting Started as a Player

Welcome to TheCommish.app. Here's how to join a pool and get your first pick in.

1. Find Your Pool

There are two ways to land in a pool:

Someone sent you a join link. Your commissioner shared a link directly with you — just click it and you'll be taken straight to that pool.
You're browsing public pools. If you don't have a link, you can browse public pools listed on TheCommish.app and join one that's open to anyone.

Already playing on a commissioner's own website? Some commissioners run their pool directly on their own website instead of thecommish.app. If that's the case, everything below works the same way — you'll just be doing it from their site instead of ours.

2. Register

If you don't already have an account, joining a pool will walk you through registering. You'll need:

Email address
A phone number (required — used for account recovery)
A password
Confirmation that you're 18 or older and agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

You don't need to register ahead of time — it's built into the join flow itself.

Already have a commissioner account? If you run your own pool and want to join someone else's, you don't need a second account. Joining a pool from your existing account works the same way and adds it to your player dashboard alongside any pools you run.

3. Join the Pool

Once you're registered (or logged in), confirm you want to join. Depending on how your commissioner has set things up, you may be asked to:

Choose an entry name (this is how you'll appear on standings — pick something your group will recognize). This applies whether you're joining from thecommish.app or from a commissioner's embedded website.
Join more than one entry at once, if your commissioner allows multiple entries per player

You're now in the pool, and it'll appear on your player dashboard.

4. Make Your First Pick

From your player dashboard, find the pool and click Submit Pick. Choose the team you think will win that week's games — see the Player Dashboard & Making Picks guide for the full walkthrough.

Heads up: you can't pick the same team twice across the whole season, so think ahead — a team you skip this week might be one you want to save for later.

Need Help?

Check the FAQ or email us at support@thecommish.app.