Facility Use Agreement Template for Athletic Fields

A coach tears up the goalmouth in metal cleats, a parent turns an ankle on a closed field, a league walks away owing three weeks of rent. The first question is always the same: what did they sign? If the answer is an email thread, you have a problem.

TL;DR: A facility use agreement for athletic fields needs eight things: the parties, the exact fields and hours, fees and payment terms, deposits, cancellation and weather rules, insurance limits with your facility named as additional insured, an indemnity and supervision clause, and written rules of use. School districts commonly require $1,000,000 per occurrence in general liability coverage before a group sets foot on a field. Use the template below, have an attorney review it, and attach it to every booking so the terms and the time stamp live together.

This article is general guidance, not legal advice. Have a qualified attorney review any agreement before you use it.

Contents

• What a facility use agreement covers
• Fees, deposits and payment terms
• Cancellation, weather and refunds
• Insurance, liability and supervision
• Rules of use
• The template
• Attaching the agreement to every online booking
• Key Takeaways
• Action Plan
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Facility use agreement template

What a facility use agreement covers

A facility use agreement names who is renting what, when, and for what activity. Vagueness in this section causes most disputes, because a group booked for “field time” reads it as permission to run a tournament.

Pin down five things:

• The parties. Legal names of both organizations, plus a named individual with authority to sign.
• The fields. Which field, and which section of it if you split full-size fields into smaller ones.
• The dates and hours. A single date, or the recurring pattern and its end date.
• The activity. Practice, game, tournament, camp or clinic, with expected attendance.
• The limits. A line stating use outside the listed fields, dates and hours isn’t covered.

The last line does more work than the rest. It’s what lets you charge for an overrun or refuse an unapproved event without arguing.

Fees, deposits and payment terms

Fees belong in the agreement in the same form they appear on your rate card: base hourly rate, lights, and any staffing or preparation charges, with a total.

Set the payment trigger explicitly. Collecting at booking beats invoicing after, since an unpaid slot still blocked the calendar. For season blocks and tournaments, a deposit holds the date while the balance falls due later.

Say what the deposit does. One applied to the final balance behaves differently from a damage deposit held and returned, and renters assume whichever suits them. Name the amount, the due date, and the conditions for withholding it.

Cancellation, weather and refunds

Separate the two kinds of cancellation, because they carry different terms. A renter pulling out is a commercial matter. A field you closed is your call and usually earns a credit rather than a forfeit.

For renter cancellations, set a notice threshold and the charge either side of it. For closures, state what the renter receives and where your liability for their other costs ends, such as referee fees already paid.

Weather deserves its own clause. Include the closure conditions in plain language so the person standing on the field is able to apply them, and add the lightning rule: play stops when thunder is heard or lightning is seen, and restarts no sooner than 30 minutes after the last one. Our guide to cancellation management strategies covers how those terms play out across a season.

Insurance, liability and supervision

Insurance is the clause protecting your business, and the one renters most often skip. Require evidence before the first booking, not after an incident.

The numbers are well established in public-sector practice. Beaverton School District requires general liability of not less than $1,000,000 combined single limit per occurrence and $2,000,000 in the aggregate, names the district as additional insured, and collects the certificate before use. Issaquah School District sets the same $1,000,000 floor and requires a hold harmless clause in every facility use agreement.

Three parts work together:

• Insurance. A stated limit, your facility named as additional insured by endorsement, and a certificate on file covering the actual dates of use.
• Indemnity. The renter agrees to defend and hold you harmless for claims arising from their use, carved back where your own negligence caused the harm.
• Supervision. A named adult responsible on site, with a ratio where minors are involved.

Where minors participate, check whether the policy responds to participant injury and whether abuse and molestation coverage applies.

Rules of use

Rules of use turn “look after the place” into something enforceable. Write them as conditions of the agreement rather than a friendly notice.

Raleigh Parks publishes a workable set on its athletic field rentals page: no play on wet, muddy or frozen fields, no vehicles on the fields, no pets, no glass, no kicking balls into fencing, and rental groups sharing priority with maintenance staff. Raleigh goes as far as warning play on damaged fields risks being treated as vandalism.

For your own fields, cover footwear (metal cleats versus molded versus turf shoes, by surface), goals and equipment handling, ground stakes and anchors, food and gum on synthetic surfaces, who operates the lights, who locks the gates, and who clears the litter. Each one is a real repair bill somewhere.

The template

The agreement is at the end of this post, in 13 clauses, from facilities and dates through to termination and governing law, with signature blocks. Everything in brackets is yours to set. Fill in your own limits, notice periods and rules, then have an attorney review it against the law in your state before a renter sees it.

Attaching the agreement to every online booking

An agreement is only enforceable in practice if every booking is recorded, paid and time-stamped against it. A signed PDF in a drawer proves the terms existed. It doesn’t prove which slots a group booked, what they were charged, or whether the certificate of insurance was current on the night of the incident.

Attach it at the point of booking, so the record builds itself:

1. Require acceptance before payment, so nobody plays without agreeing.
2. Store the certificate of insurance against the account, with its expiry.
3. Time-stamp every booking, change and cancellation.
4. Keep payment records with the booking rather than in a separate ledger.
5. Log closures and credits, so the weather clause has evidence behind it.

This is where athletic field scheduling software does the quiet work. SportsKey’s plans list Waivers and Attach and Request Documents for collecting signed terms and certificates, Audit Trails for the time-stamped record, and Chargeable Bookings so payment and agreement land together. Both Waivers and Audit Trails sit on the Advanced plan and above, so check your tier before building a process on them.

One caution: a waiver feature is a collection mechanism, not a substitute for legal review of what you’re asking people to sign. For the wider picture of how bookings, allocation and records fit together, see our guide to sports field scheduling software.

Key Takeaways

• Name the exact fields, hours and activity, then rule out anything outside them.
• Collect insurance evidence before use. Public-sector practice sits at $1,000,000 per occurrence with the facility named as additional insured.
• Keep renter cancellations and facility closures as separate clauses with different outcomes.
• Rules of use are only enforceable when they’re conditions of the agreement.
• The agreement is worth what your booking records prove.

Action Plan

1. Fill in the template with your fields, rates, notice periods and rules.
2. Set your insurance limit and additional insured wording, then have an attorney review both.
3. Decide your deposit rule for tournaments and season blocks.
4. Require acceptance at booking, and store certificates against each account.
5. Review expiring certificates monthly against upcoming bookings.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What should a facility use agreement include? Parties, fields and hours, fees, deposit, cancellation and weather terms, insurance requirements, indemnity and supervision, rules of use, damage liability, and signatures. Anything a dispute might turn on belongs in writing.
   
2. How much insurance should you require from a field renter? School districts commonly require $1,000,000 per occurrence, often with $2,000,000 in the aggregate and the facility named as additional insured. Check what your own insurer advises.
   
3. Is a facility use agreement the same as a waiver? No. The agreement sets the commercial and liability terms between your facility and the renting organization. A waiver is usually signed by individual participants. Many facilities use both.
   
4. Is a renter liable for damage to a field? Yes, where the agreement says so. Include a damage clause covering repair costs beyond normal wear, and a rule stating groups playing on a closed field are responsible for the damage.
   
5. Do you need a signed agreement for a one-off booking? Yes, though a short version works. Terms accepted online at booking, tied to a time-stamped record and a payment, cover a single evening rental better than an email exchange.
   

Put the agreement where the booking happens

Terms work when they’re attached to the record. Book a SportsKey demo to see waivers, documents, and time-stamped booking records in one system.

Facility use agreement template

Replace every bracketed item with your own terms. This template is general guidance, not legal advice. Have a qualified attorney review the finished agreement before you use it.

FACILITY USE AGREEMENT

This Agreement is made between [Facility name], of [address] (“the Facility”), and [Organization or individual name], of [address] (“the User”), on [date].

1. Facilities and dates The Facility grants the User permission to use: [field or fields, including any split sections], on [dates or recurring pattern], between [start time] and [end time]. Permitted activity: [practice, game, tournament, camp]. Expected attendance: [number]. Use outside the listed fields, dates or hours is not covered by this Agreement.

2. Fees and payment Base rate: [$X per hour]. Lights: [$X per hour]. Additional charges: [staffing, line marking, equipment, tournament day rate]. Total due: [$X]. Payment is due [at the time of booking / within X days of invoice]. Bookings are confirmed only once payment or deposit is received.

3. Deposit A deposit of [$X or X%] is due by [date] to hold the booking. The deposit is [applied to the final balance / refundable subject to clause 4] and may be withheld in full or in part to cover damage, cleaning, or overrun under clause 8.

4. Cancellation and refunds Cancellation by the User: [X] days or more before the booking, [full refund / credit]. Fewer than [X] days, [no refund / X% charge]. No-shows are charged in full. Cancellation by the Facility: if the Facility closes a field for weather, unsafe conditions, or maintenance, the User receives [an account credit valid for X days / a full refund]. The Facility is not liable for the User’s other costs arising from a closure.

5. Weather and field closure The Facility determines field playability during operating hours. Outside those hours, [leagues and game officials] determine playability. A field is closed when standing water cannot be cleared without damage, mud will not dry before play, water is visible underfoot, footprints hold their shape, or the surface is frozen or snow-covered. Lightning: play is suspended and the field cleared when thunder is heard or lightning is seen. Play resumes no sooner than 30 minutes after the last thunder or lightning, and any new thunder or lightning restarts the count.

6. Insurance The User shall maintain commercial general liability insurance of not less than [$1,000,000] per occurrence and [$2,000,000] in the aggregate for bodily injury and property damage, in force for the full term of this Agreement. The User shall name [Facility name] as an additional insured and provide a certificate of insurance evidencing coverage before the first date of use. [Add if applicable: participant accident coverage of not less than $X per person; abuse and molestation coverage of not less than $X where minors participate.]

7. Liability, indemnity and supervision The User assumes all risk arising from its use of the facilities. The User agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless [Facility name], its owners, officers, employees and agents from any claims, damages, losses or expenses, including reasonable attorney’s fees, arising from the User’s use of the facilities, except to the extent caused by the Facility’s own negligence. The User shall provide adult supervision at all times that participants are present, in a ratio of no fewer than [X adults per Y participants], and is responsible for the conduct of its participants, coaches and spectators.

8. Rules of use The User agrees that:

• Play does not take place on fields closed by the Facility. Groups using a closed field are responsible for repair costs.
• Only [molded cleats / turf shoes / flat-soled footwear] are worn on [synthetic surfaces]. Metal cleats are [permitted on grass only / not permitted].
• No vehicles, stakes, or ground anchors on the playing surface without written approval.
• No food, gum, seeds, glass containers, alcohol, tobacco or pets on the playing surface.
• Goals and equipment are moved only by [Facility staff / the User under direction], and returned to their original position.
• Field lights are operated by [Facility staff / access code issued with the booking] and run only during booked hours.
• Gates are [locked on exit / left as found], and the User vacates the field by the booked end time.
• The User removes all litter and equipment at the end of the booking.

9. Damage The User is responsible for the cost of repairing damage to the fields, fencing, lighting, goals or other property caused by its use, beyond normal wear.

10. Priority and changes The Facility may reschedule or relocate a booking where maintenance, safety, or [school or club] activity requires it, and will give as much notice as circumstances allow. In that event the User receives [an alternative slot or a credit].

11. Assignment The User may not transfer, sublet or assign this booking to another organization without written approval from the Facility.

12. Termination The Facility may terminate this Agreement and cancel remaining bookings for non-payment, breach of the rules of use, or conduct that endangers participants or property.

13. Governing law This Agreement is governed by the laws of [state].

Signatures

Facility representative: ________________ Name: [ ] Title: [ ] Date: [ ]

User representative: ________________ Name: [ ] Title: [ ] Date: [ ]

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Attachments to keep with the signed agreement: certificate of insurance, booking confirmation and payment record, and the published rate card and rules in force on the date of signing.

Sources and requirements verified as of September 2026.