A 16-team double elimination bracket gives every team a second chance: you have to lose twice to be knocked out. Teams that lose in the winners bracket drop into a losers bracket, and the survivor of each side meets in the championship. Our free version prints on one landscape page with a winners bracket, a full losers bracket, and a championship box, plus a title at the top you can delete in any PDF editor.
How Does a 16-Team Double Elimination Bracket Work?
In a double elimination tournament, one loss does not end your run. All 16 teams start in the winners bracket. Lose there and you move to the losers bracket, where you keep playing. Lose a second time and you are eliminated. The last team standing in each bracket meets in the championship.
The Winners Bracket
The winners bracket works exactly like a 16-team single elimination bracket: 16 teams become 8, then 4, then 2, then one winners-bracket champion. Every team that loses along the way drops down into the losers bracket instead of going home.
The Losers Bracket
The losers bracket runs over six rounds. It alternates between rounds where losers-bracket survivors play each other and rounds where a fresh team just eliminated from the winners bracket drops in. On our printable, those drop-in spots are the gold lines. The last team standing in the losers bracket earns the second spot in the championship.
The Championship (and Possible Reset)
The championship pits the winners-bracket champion against the losers-bracket champion. Here is the twist: the winners-bracket team has not lost yet, while the losers-bracket team has one loss. If the losers-bracket team wins, both teams now have one loss, so they play one more deciding game, called a bracket reset. If the winners-bracket team wins, the tournament is over.
Number of Games
A 16-team double elimination tournament has 30 games (2 times 16, minus 2), or 31 games if a bracket reset is needed in the championship. That is roughly double a single elimination event, which is the trade-off for giving everyone a second life.
Blind Draw vs Seeded
This template is a blind draw, with teams filled in randomly. You can also seed it by placing your top team on the top line. For a deeper explanation of the format, see the double-elimination tournament overview on Wikipedia.
How to Use This Printable Bracket
Print the PDF in landscape. Fill in the 16 teams on the left of the winners bracket, then track winners to the right and losers down into the losers bracket. The title at the top is a separate text element you can delete in a PDF editor for a clean sheet. Need a different size or a single elimination version? See the full printable brackets hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many games are in a 16-team double elimination bracket?
Thirty games, or thirty-one if the championship needs a bracket reset. Double elimination roughly doubles the number of games compared with single elimination because every team can lose once and keep playing.
What is a bracket reset in double elimination?
It is a deciding final game. The winners-bracket team enters the championship unbeaten, so if the losers-bracket team beats them once, both have a single loss and they play one more game to decide the title.
What does the losers bracket do?
It keeps teams alive after their first loss. Teams eliminated from the winners bracket drop into the losers bracket and keep playing until they lose a second time.
How many rounds are in a 16-team double elimination tournament?
The winners bracket has four rounds and the losers bracket has six, plus the championship (and a possible reset game).
Can I delete the title on the printable PDF?
Yes. The title at the top is a separate text object, so you can remove it in any PDF editor if you want a blank, unbranded bracket.
More Printable Brackets
- Printable Brackets Hub (all sizes and formats)
- 15-Team Single Elimination Bracket (PDF)
- Single Elimination Tournament Brackets: Rules and Seeding
- How Do Sports Brackets Work?
