The series system

The division tree

The number of divisions can differ from one country to another, but the basic structure is always the same. For instance, the Italian series system looks like this:

1 Division I (Serie A)
4 Division II (II.1, II.2, II.3, II.4)
16 Division III (III.1, III.2, etc to III.16)
64 Division IV (IV.1, IV.2, etc to IV.64)
256 Division V (V.1, V.2, etc to V.256)
1024 Division VI (VI.1, VI.2, etc. to VI.1024)
1024 Division VII (VII.1, VII.2, etc. to VII.1024)
2048 Division VIII (VIII.1, VIII.2, etc. to VIII.2048)
2048 Division IX (IX.1, IX.2, etc. to IX.2048)
4096 Division X (X.1, X.2, etc. to X.4096)
4096 Division XI (XI.1, XI.2, etc. to XI.4096)

Please note that beginning with league level VI, the number of series doubles at every second level.

Promotion, relegation, and qualifiers

If you win your series you will either advance directly to a higher division, or play a qualifier to promote. In divisions II-VI the series winners with the most points promote directly, the other winners have to qualify. In lower divisions all winners promote directly. In odd-numbered divisions (VII, IX, etc) the runners up also promote directly.

Series winners who have to qualify will face a team who finished 5th or 6th in the division above. Out of the series winners that must play a qualification match, the ones with the best records meet the worst 6th place teams, and the ones with the weakest records are pitched against the best 5th place teams. The team from the higher division plays at home. If the series winner wins, the two teams swap places in the league system. If the higher division team wins, they stay in their respective series.

If you end up in 7th or 8th place, you will be automatically relegated to the division below (except for the lowest division). The relegated team with the best record (the best team out of those finishing in place 7) will swap series with the promoted team that has the strongest record. The relegated team with the worst record swaps places with the weakest team that has gained promotion.

In divisions VII and IX, teams who finished 3rd and 4th place will play promotion qualifiers and in divisions VIII and X, teams who finished 2nd will play a promotion qualifier.

Switch series in switching window

If your team competes in one of the three bottom divisions in your league, it may be possible to switch from one series to another in the same division. For this to work, there needs to be a free slot in the series you want to join; something that will be shown in the series table during the season break switching window. Also, if you have an additional team under your management, as part of your Supporter membership, your teams can never move to play in the same series.

Bot relegation

At the end of each season all bot teams in division VI and lower will be relegated to the lowest possible division. The only exception to this is at the very top of division VI, where any bot team that wins the series will either promote or play a qualifier as normal. Bot teams in division V or above are treated in the same way as human owned teams in terms of promotion and relegation.

As these bot teams are demoted, additional teams will be given space in the higher division. These teams will be labeled "Lucky Losers", and will either be teams that lost qualification matches, or in some cases, teams that were demoted directly. You can opt out from this kind of promotion in the team settings.

If there are enough bots in a country to fill the entire bottom division, the system automatically closes the bottom division, and hence makes preparations for it.

League position and ranking

The final standings are determined by, in order of importance, points, goal difference, and goals scored. This in turn determines your ranking, which is used to decide who meets who in qualifiers and cup games. The ranking is based on, in order of importance: series level, place in the series, points, goal difference and goals scored. For both ranking and league position: if all of these things are equal a coin toss decides.

Prize money

If you finish in the top half of the table you will get some prize money. How much you get depends on your place and in which division you play:

Series Level	1	2	3	4
Division I	2 000 000 US$	1 175 000 US$	825 000 US$	500 000 US$
Division II	1 350 000 US$	1 050 000 US$	750 000 US$	450 000 US$
Division III	1 200 000 US$	925 000 US$	675 000 US$	400 000 US$
Division IV	900 000 US$	700 000 US$	500 000 US$	300 000 US$
Division V	600 000 US$	475 000 US$	325 000 US$	200 000 US$
Division VI	525 000 US$	400 000 US$	300 000 US$	175 000 US$
Other divisions	450 000 US$	350 000 US$	250 000 US$	150 000 US$

There is also a 10 000 US$ bonus paid for having the top scorer in a series. The money is paid-out after the last match of the season. If two players tie for this award, both current owners of the players will receive the award; however, if two of your own players tie, then you only receive one prize.

Promotion bonus

If you are directly promoted to a higher division you get a promotion bonus on top of the prize money. Moreover, promotion will also boost your fan club: you'll receive a 10% increase in fans. Similarly, if you demote you will lose 10% of your fans. If you promote "for free," outside the regular promotion slot, you only get the fan club boost. Examples of this include promotion due to bot removal and the temporary extra promotion slots available in the Hattrick International league.

Series Level	Directly promoted	Promoted after qualifier
Division I	-	-
Division II	500 000 US$	175 000 US$
Division III	450 000 US$	150 000 US$
Division IV	400 000 US$	125 000 US$
Division V	300 000 US$	100 000 US$
Division VI	200 000 US$	75 000 US$
Other divisions	175 000 US$	50 000 US$