How offices ran their Cup sweep in 2026

Oz Profit looked at 64 workplace sweeps run on our free Melbourne Cup sweep generator on Cup Day 2026. The typical one cost $5 a ticket, sold 24 tickets to 15 people for a $120 pot, split it 60/25/10/5 and paid its winner $69. On Cup Day, the typical sweep went out to the group at 11:54am.

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Published 3 November 2026. Figures are medians and shares across workplace sweeps. Settings are as they stood at 3:34pm on race day; payments as at 9:04pm on 3 November 2026. How we counted

The Office Sweep Stakes

Melbourne Cup 2026 · Ten habits from 64 workplace sweeps

  1. 1

    Five dollars a ticket

    47% of sweeps charged $5 a ticket. Of the rest, more went cheaper than dearer: 30% charged $2 or less and 20% more than $5.

    47%
    Full form
    $19%$220%$2.50 to $43%$547%$6 to $1011%$11 to $203%$506%

    The median ticket was $5, which is also where our generator starts, so some of these sweeps simply kept it. No sweep charged more than $50.

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  2. 2

    Two tickets, please

    80% of sweeps had someone holding two or more tickets. The typical sweep sold 24 tickets, one per horse, to 15 people. Only 20% had a different name on every ticket.

    80%
    Full form
    Under 10 people9%10 to 14 people38%15 to 19 people23%20 to 24 people23%25 or more people6%

    55% of sweeps sold exactly 24 tickets and 33% sold fewer. The other 13% sold more than 24, mostly by running a second sweep. We count people by the names on the tickets, so two entrants with the same name count as one person and the sweep can look like it had a repeat buyer.

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  3. 3

    The $120 pot

    The typical prize pool was $120. 83% of pots were under $200.

    $120
    Full form
    Under $5028%$50 to $998%$100 to $19947%$200 to $49911%$500 or more6%

    The middle half of all pots sat between $48 and $124.

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  4. 4

    Sixty, twenty-five, ten, five

    80% of sweeps used the 60/25/10/5 prize split, which pays four people including whoever drew the horse that finished last. Of the rest, 9% used 70/20/10 with no prize for last and 9% set a split of their own.

    80%
    Full form
    60/25/10/580%70/20/109%Another split9%Winner takes all2%

    Our generator starts on 60/25/10/5, so part of this share is organisers keeping the default. 2% of sweeps paid the winner alone.

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  5. 5

    The $69 winner

    The typical first prize was $69 on a $5 ticket, 14 times the stake. In the typical sweep, about one person in four took home a prize.

    14x
    Full form
    60%25%1st $722nd $303rd $12Last $6

    Before refunds, a $120 pot split 60/25/10/5 pays $72, $30, $12 and $6. Sweeps that refunded Asterix's race-morning scratching lost a ticket from the pool, so the typical winner took $69.

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  6. 6

    Sorted before lunch

    The typical Cup Day sweep went out to the group at 11:54am, about three hours before the 3pm race. 34% of sweeps were shared in the last three hours.

    11:54am
    Full form
    22%Monday7am8%8am13%9am9%10am14%11am6%12pm19%1pm9%2pmTypical on Cup Day 11:54am

    The busiest hour on Cup Day was 1pm, when 19% of all sweeps went out. Times are when the organiser first shared the sweep link. Shared links started on the Monday afternoon before the race, so a sweep drawn earlier counts from when it was shared.

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  7. 7

    Refund the scratching

    78% of sweeps were set to refund whoever drew a scratched horse. 11% kept that money in the pot instead. Another 11% gave the owner a spare horse where there was one.

    78%
    Full form
    78%Refund the entry: 78%Money stays in the pot: 11%Redraw a spare horse: 11%

    Refunds are our generator's starting rule. The figures show the rule each sweep had set, including sweeps that never had Asterix in their field.

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  8. 8

    A sweep for every budget

    One group in three ran more than one sweep. Of those 14 groups, 12 charged more than one price, such as $1, $2 and $5 sweeps side by side.

    1 in 3
    Full form

    We can't see who organised a sweep, so we grouped sweeps shared from the same device on the day or with mostly the same people in them. That puts the 64 sweeps at about 42 groups. The 14 groups that ran several accounted for 36 of the sweeps.

  9. 9

    Paid up on the day

    In 76% of the sweeps where the organiser ticked off payments (16 of 21), every ticket was marked paid by Cup Day evening.

    76%
    Full form
    76%24%Every ticket paid: 76%Someone still owed: 24%

    33% of sweeps (21) used the paid checklist, so this describes the organisers keeping the closest eye on the money. Payments are counted as at 9:04pm on 3 November 2026, so some were ticked off after the race.

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  10. 10

    Every horse has an owner

    23% of sweeps sold fewer tickets than there were horses. Of those 15, 11 handed the spare horses out at random so every horse had an owner. The rest left them unsold.

    73%
    Full form

    Handing out the spares is our generator's starting setting.

Compare your office's sweep

Put in your ticket price, how many tickets you've sold and your prize split. Each answer comes from the same workplace sweeps as the form guide above.

Conditions for next year's sweep

Every race has its conditions. Most sweeps ran with these in 2026, so they make a fair default for 2027. Three of them ($5, 60/25/10/5 and refunds) are also where our generator starts.

Set up a sweep with these rules

  1. Charge $5 a ticket

    47% of sweeps did. If budgets vary, run a $1 or $2 sweep beside it: 12 groups ran sweeps at more than one price this year.

  2. Sell all 24 horses and let people buy two

    The typical sweep sold 24 tickets to 15 people. In 80% of sweeps, someone held more than one ticket.

  3. Hand out any spare horses

    If you sell fewer tickets than there are horses, deal the spares out at random so the winner can't go unclaimed. That's what 11 of the 15 short sweeps did this year.

  4. Split the pot 60/25/10/5

    80% of sweeps used it. It pays four prizes, including one for the horse that finishes last.

  5. Agree to refund scratchings before the draw

    78% of sweeps were set to refund the owner of a scratched horse.

  6. Have the draw out by lunchtime

    The typical Cup Day sweep went out at 11:54am. Collect the money before 3pm: in 5 of the 21 sweeps that ticked off payments, someone still hadn't paid by that evening.

Stewards' report: how we counted

What's in it. Every Melbourne Cup sweep shared as a link from the Oz Profit sweep generator between the Monday afternoon before the race and the result on 3 November 2026. We left out sweeps with fewer than 5 entries or no ticket price, which were mostly tests and pairs. A sweep shared twice (same price, nearly the same people, usually a redraw) counts once. That leaves 64 workplace and group sweeps from about 42 groups.

What the figures mean. Unless a figure says otherwise, it's a median or a share of sweeps. We count people by the names on each sweep's tickets, because organisers enter someone once for every ticket they buy. Two entrants with the same name count once, so the people figures may run slightly low. Where a base is small, we give the count as well as the share.

When we took them. Each sweep's prices, entrants, draw and rules are as they stood at 3:34pm on race day, so changes made after the result don't count. Times are when the organiser first shared the sweep link. Payment figures come only from sweeps where the organiser ticked off who had paid. We took those at 9:04pm on 3 November 2026, so some payments were ticked off after the race.

Payouts. We applied the official result (Point Of Law, Zahrann, Juja Kibo, with Vauban last) and the race-morning scratching of Asterix to the 57 sweeps run on the official field. Each sweep's own prize split and scratching rule set its payouts. Sweeps with a custom field are left out of the payout figures.

Our defaults. The generator starts every sweep at a $5 ticket, a 60/25/10/5 split, refunds for scratchings and spare horses handed out. Those figures partly reflect organisers keeping the defaults.

What it can't tell you. These are groups that chose to run their sweep online and share it, so they may be more organised than the typical office. The figures describe these sweeps only. They aren't a survey of Australian workplaces or weighted to stand for one.

Privacy. We counted sweeps in aggregate only. No names, sweep titles or workplace details were used or published. Shared sweeps are deleted 60 days after the race, as set out in our privacy policy.

Use this research

You're welcome to quote these figures and use the charts. Please credit Oz Profit with a link to this page.

Citation

Oz Profit (2026). How offices ran their Melbourne Cup sweep in 2026: 64 workplace sweeps. https://www.ozprofit.com/melbourne-cup-sweep-statistics/

The data

Every figure on this page in one spreadsheet-ready file.

Download the CSV

Charts to embed

  • Bar chart of sweep ticket prices: $1 9%, $2 20%, $2.50 to $4 3%, $5 47%, $6 to $10 11%, $11 to $20 3%, $50 6% of sweeps.

    What office sweeps charged per ticket, Melbourne Cup 2026

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  • Bar chart of people per sweep: Under 10 9%, 10 to 14 38%, 15 to 19 23%, 20 to 24 23%, 25 or more 6% of sweeps. The typical sweep had 15 people holding 24 tickets.

    How many people were in each office sweep, Melbourne Cup 2026

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  • 55% of sweeps sold exactly 24 tickets, 33% sold fewer and 13% sold more.

    How many tickets each office sweep sold, Melbourne Cup 2026

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  • Bar chart of prize pools: Under $50 28%, $50 to $99 8%, $100 to $199 47%, $200 to $499 11%, $500 or more 6% of sweeps. The typical pool was $120.

    Size of the prize pool, Melbourne Cup office sweeps 2026

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  • Bar chart of prize splits: 60/25/10/5 80%, 70/20/10 9%, Another split 9%, Winner takes all 2% of sweeps.

    How office sweeps split the prize money, Melbourne Cup 2026

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  • A $120 pot split 60/25/10/5 pays $72 to 1st, $30 to 2nd, $12 to 3rd and $6 to last.

    Where a typical $120 office sweep pot goes

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  • Column chart of when sweeps were first shared. 22% went out on the Monday; on Cup Day the typical time was 11:54am, with 34% shared in the three hours before the 3pm race.

    When office sweeps were shared, Melbourne Cup 2026

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  • 78% of sweeps were set to refund the owner of a scratched horse, 11% to keep the money in the pot and 11% to redraw a spare horse.

    Scratched-horse rules in office sweeps, Melbourne Cup 2026

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  • Of the 21 sweeps that ticked off payments, 16 (76%) had every ticket marked paid by Cup Day evening.

    Office sweeps with every ticket paid on Cup Day, Melbourne Cup 2026

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Run next year's sweep

Draw next year's sweep from the real field and send the group one link that stays up to date. Once the result is in, you'll see every payout with your scratching rule already applied.

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