Spot the Ball software and competition platform
Run skill-based Spot the Ball competitions end to end — image upload and coordinate judging, entry limits, scheduling, leaderboards, winner settlement and prize fulfilment — with UK skill-competition framing built in.
Spot the Ball is a classic skill-based competition: entrants study an image and predict the precise coordinates of a removed ball, with the closest guess winning. Run correctly, it is a skill competition rather than a lottery — which matters enormously for how the product is regulated in the UK and beyond.
PackOS provides the Spot the Ball software to run these competitions properly: precise coordinate capture with a zoomable image, configurable entry limits, scheduled open and close windows, transparent judging against a defined answer, leaderboards and automated winner settlement.
Fairway, a live golf Spot the Ball game, runs on this exact infrastructure. Whether you are a sports platform, a media brand or a competitions operator, PackOS lets you launch compliant, skill-based competitions without building the judging and settlement engine yourself.
What you get
Image upload & coordinate judging
Upload competition images and define the winning coordinate. Entrants place a marker with a zoom tool for precision.
Entry limits & scheduling
Set per-user entry caps, pricing and open/close windows for each competition.
Leaderboards
Live ranking by distance from the answer keeps entrants engaged through the competition window.
Winner settlement
Automatically rank entries by proximity, determine winners and record an auditable result.
Prize fulfilment
Physical prizes flow into the same inventory and fulfilment workflow used across PackOS.
Skill-based compliance framing
Structured as a skill competition, with a defined judging method and records that support UK skill-competition positioning.
How it works
- 01
Upload the competition image
Add the image and mark the exact winning coordinate in the CMS.
- 02
Configure entries
Set entry price, per-user limits, prize and the open/close schedule.
- 03
Entrants place markers
Users study the image, zoom in and submit their coordinate guesses.
- 04
Judge & settle
At close, entries are ranked by distance and the winner is determined automatically.
- 05
Fulfil the prize
Winners are notified and physical prizes move through fulfilment.
Fairway
Fairway is a live Spot the Ball golf game running on PackOS, with coordinate judging, entry limits and prize fulfilment. Read the case study.
Read the case studyBuilt for audience owners
Sports & competition operators
Run recurring skill competitions with real prizes across any sport.
Media & publishers
Add a skill-based competition mechanic to monetise readership and engagement.
Clubs & rights holders
Use match imagery to run branded Spot the Ball competitions for fans.
Common questions
- Is Spot the Ball legal in the UK?
- Spot the Ball can be operated as a game of skill rather than a lottery when the result is determined by judgement of a defined answer, not chance. PackOS structures competitions with a defined winning coordinate and auditable judging to support that positioning. Always confirm your specific setup with a UK gambling-law adviser.
- How is the winner judged?
- You define the winning coordinate when you upload the image. At close, every entry is measured by its distance from that point and ranked automatically, producing a transparent, auditable result.
- Can we cap the number of entries?
- Yes. You can set per-user entry limits, total entry caps and pricing per competition, and schedule exactly when entries open and close.
- How are prizes paid or delivered?
- Physical prizes run through the same fulfilment and inventory workflow as the rest of PackOS. Winners are recorded and notified automatically at settlement.
- Can we run competitions on a schedule?
- Yes. Competitions have configurable open and close windows, so you can run one-offs, weekly rounds or continuous series.
Ready to launch spot the ball software?
Tell us about your audience and we'll walk you through a live platform on PackOS.