BBL Auction Game: Big Bash Fantasy With Your Friends

BBL rooms open as soon as the BBL|16 squads are announced.

The Big Bash is back. BBL|16 starts on 12 December 2026, with the first ever BBL match played in India, at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium, and runs to the final on 26 January 2027. That's 44 games of late-night cricket across the Indian winter. AuctionRoom gives your group a reason to care about every one of them: run your own Big Bash fantasy auction, build a squad from all eight clubs, and watch it score points from real BBL matches.

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Free for up to 3 teams, ₹160 for 4 teams, then +₹40 per extra team · most auctions finish in under an hour · no app download

How the BBL auction game works

AuctionRoom is a social auction game for cricket fans. One person hosts the room, friends join from their own phones, and everyone builds a squad from the same player pool. The squad you end up with earns fantasy points from real BBL|16 matches, and a shared leaderboard keeps score all season.

The player pool is every player in the eight clubs' BBL|16 squads: Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder. In draft mode, you can filter the pool by name, role or team when it's your pick.

1. The host sets up the room. The room wizard takes you through each step in order: Name → Player Pool → Roster & Budget → Mid-Season Auction → Captain/VC → Top Scorers → Scoring Start.
2. Friends join with a code. Share the invite code or link, or send it straight to your WhatsApp group. Friends sign in and join with the code.
3. Prep your targets. Before the auction, everyone can star the players they want in the Auction Preparation panel. Only you can see your list.
4. Build your squads. The host picks auction or snake draft when the room is created. Both are available when rooms open.
5. Pick a Captain and Vice-Captain. Then follow the points as the season plays out. Finals are scored.

Auction vs draft: two ways to build your Big Bash squad

Auction mode. Every team gets the same purse. Players come up one at a time in random order, each at a base price set by the tournament, and the highest bid wins. Nobody can bid more than they have left, and a team that fills its squad is locked. Players nobody bids on go into a re-auction at the end with a lower base price, but only the ones a manager nominates come back. If someone gets carried away early, a bargain often turns up later.

Draft mode. Prefer picks to bidding? In a snake draft, the pick order is randomised when the draft starts, and teams pick in order in odd rounds (1→N) and in reverse in even rounds (N→1). Only the team on the clock can pick, and every pick is removed from the pool. The draft board shows every pick by round and team. There's no purse to manage, so it's a quicker way to get a group started.

BBL rooms offer both in-app bidding and verbal bidding. The host can optionally set an overseas limit, which caps only the overseas players who count in your scoring XI (Top Scorers).

How BBL fantasy scoring works

Once squads are set, points come in automatically as real BBL|16 matches are played. Finals are scored.

• Captain and Vice-Captain. Your Captain scores 2× and your Vice-Captain 1.5×. Both multipliers apply only to Starting XI players. Depending on the room's settings, you may be able to change your Captain or Vice-Captain during the season.
• Top Scorers. If the host turns on Top Scorers (a starting XI), only your best performers count towards your total. The rest sit on the bench and score nothing.
• Mid-season auction. A mid-season auction is available. The host can turn it on, which gives everyone a chance to reshape their squad partway through the summer.
• Leaderboard. Teams are ranked on total effective points. Every squad and every match-by-match breakdown is visible to the whole group.

The full points table is on the scoring system page, and the room rules are on the rules page.

Pricing

Hosting is free for up to 3 teams, ₹160 for 4 teams, then +₹40 per extra team. A 5-team room is ₹200. Joining a room someone else hosts does not add a player entry fee.

How to start a BBL room

Rooms open as soon as the BBL|16 squads are announced. Join the waitlist, and once they're open it takes four steps:

1. Sign in and open the room wizard. Choose BBL|16 as the tournament.
2. Set your rules. Pick auction or snake draft, the squad size and the purse, and optionally an overseas limit for your scoring XI. Decide on Top Scorers, Captain/VC and a mid-season auction.
3. Invite your group. Share the code. You need at least two teams to start. There is no maximum room size. Six to ten teams is a good size for a group.
4. Start. Only the host can start. Everyone waits in a live lobby until you do. Most auctions finish in under an hour.

Once rooms are open, run yours before 12 December so the squad scores from the first ball in Chennai.

Tips for your Big Bash fantasy auction

• Watch for the bargain. Players come up in random order, so don't spend half your purse on the first big name.
• Know your Captain before you bid. A consistent all-rounder at 2× usually beats a boom-or-bust batter.
• Use the re-auction. Overlooked players come back cheaper the second time.
• Think about the run-in. The regular season ends on 17 January and the top four go to the finals. Finals are scored, so players from those clubs can have extra matches to score in.

Your auction table is waiting

BBL rooms open as soon as the BBL|16 squads are announced. Join the waitlist and you'll be first to know. Then set the purse, send the code to your group, and find out who really knows how to build a Big Bash squad.

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