One set of rulesfor every booking.
Creators can't set their own cancellation or refund rules, so families know what to expect from everyone.
Version 2026-10-25-draftWorking draft, October 25, 2026. Must be reviewed by a lawyer before real payments. Each booking saves the version it was made under; later changes never apply to existing bookings.
Purpose and scope
Every Pitchside booking follows this one standard policy at launch. Creators cannot set their own cancellation or refund rules yet.
- Applies to all bookings made through a creator’s storefront or package page.
- Parents book for minor athletes; adult athletes book for themselves. “Athlete” below means whoever booked.
- This is a working draft. It must be reviewed by a lawyer and turned into Terms of Service and a creator agreement before any real payment is taken.
Rescheduled or cancelled games
A rescheduled game moves the booking for free; a game called off after the creator arrives pays the creator a 20% show-up fee.
| Situation | Athlete gets | Creator gets |
|---|---|---|
| Game rescheduled, creator can make the new date | Booking moves free | Full payment after delivery |
| Game rescheduled, creator can’t make the new date | Full refund | Nothing |
| Game cancelled before the creator leaves | Full refund | Nothing |
| Game called off after the creator arrives | 80% refund | 20% show-up fee |
| Bad weather but the game is played | No refund | Full payment after delivery |
- The athlete must report a reschedule or cancellation in the app as soon as they know.
- Weather and lighting conditions are not grounds for a refund. This is stated on every package page.
Athlete cancellations
| Notice before game time | Refund |
|---|---|
| More than 48 hours | 100% |
| 24 to 48 hours | 50% |
| Less than 24 hours | None |
A known injury before game day is handled as a free reschedule, not a cancellation (see Playing time and injuries).
Creator cancellations and no-shows
If the creator cancels or doesn’t show, the athlete always gets a full refund.
- Creator cancels: full refund to the athlete, for any reason.
- Late cancellation (under 48 hours): first time is a warning. Repeat late cancellations remove the creator from Pitchside.
- No-show: full refund, plus a $10–20 credit paid by Pitchside. The creator is suspended immediately pending review.
- Arrival check-in: creators tap “I’ve arrived” at the game. The timestamp is the record for no-show and late-arrival disputes.
- Very late arrival (misses most of the game): the athlete can request a partial refund through support.
Playing time and injuries
Playing time is not guaranteed; the creator is paid in full if the athlete barely or doesn’t play.
- Injury or benching during the game: the creator delivers what they captured (warmups, sideline, team shots). No refund.
- Injury known before game day: if the athlete reports it before the creator leaves for the game, the booking moves to a future game at no cost.
- Checkout shows this in plain words: “Playing time isn’t guaranteed. If your athlete doesn’t play, your creator delivers what they captured and the booking is paid in full.”
Delivery and approval
The athlete has 72 hours after delivery to respond; with no response, the delivery auto-approves.
- Creator uploads the delivery by the deadline in their package.
- Athlete has 72 hours to approve, request a revision, or report a problem.
- Reminders go out at 24 and 48 hours.
- No response after 72 hours: the delivery auto-approves and the creator becomes eligible for payment.
- A revision request pauses the clock. A fresh 72 hours starts when the revised version is delivered.
- After auto-approval, only missing or broken files can be raised with support.
Late delivery: if the creator is 3 days past the promised delivery time, the athlete can cancel for a full refund or keep waiting.
Revisions and reshoots
A revision changes what was already shot; creator mistakes are fixed free and never count against revisions.
| Request | Counts as | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Brightness, color, crop edits | Revision | Included up to package limit |
| Swap photos for others from the same game | Revision | Included up to package limit |
| Re-cut highlight video (clips, order, music, length) | Revision | Included up to package limit |
| Photos of the wrong athlete | Creator error | Creator fixes free, no limit |
| Fewer photos than promised | Creator error | Creator fixes free, no limit |
| Broken or corrupted files | Creator error | Creator fixes free, no limit |
| Moments the creator didn’t capture | Not covered | No fix |
| New footage or a different game | Not covered | New booking |
| Heavy retouching (removing people, body edits) | Not covered | No fix |
| More photos than the package includes | Add-on | Athlete pays add-on price |
| Raw files | Add-on | Only if the package includes them |
- Each package states its included revisions (default 1).
- Revision requests use a form listing the specific changes.
- Revisions are due within 48 hours.
- Reshoot or full refund only when a creator mistake made the delivery unusable (mostly out of focus, mostly the wrong athlete). The athlete chooses refund or reshoot; support decides if it’s disputed.
Photo rights and minors
Proposed default: the creator keeps copyright and the athlete’s family gets a personal-use license.
- Personal use (social media, family sharing, recruiting profiles): included with every booking.
- Commercial use (paid NIL deals, brand ads): requires a separate commercial license from the creator.
- Creator portfolio use: the creator may show the work only if the booking allows it. Parents choose yes or no at checkout for minors.
- Minors: a parent or guardian books and gives photo consent for any athlete under 18 as part of the booking.
Checkout and enforcement
- Checkout summary: a short plain-English summary with a required checkbox, plus a link to the full policy.
- Policy versioning: each booking saves the policy version it was made under. Later policy changes never apply to existing bookings.
- Evidence: arrival check-ins, delivery timestamps, approvals, and in-app messages are kept as the record for disputes.
- Payment mechanics: partial refunds, the 20% show-up fee, the no-show credit, and holding creator pay until approval must all be verified in Stripe Connect before this policy is published.
Open items for lawyer review
- Terms of Service for athletes and parents
- Creator agreement, including independent contractor status
- Photo copyright and license terms (personal vs commercial use)
- Parental consent for photographing and booking for minors, including under-13 users
- Whether the 20% show-up fee and no-refund cases are enforceable as written in California
- Payment wording that avoids implying escrow or holding funds