either 2n − 2 or 2n − 1 games depending on whether or not the winner was undefeated during the tournament. This may result in a scheduling hardship for venues where only one facility for play is available. However, the number of matches is still lower than what is required by a Swiss-system tournament or round-robin tournament. If the championship final has two matches scheduled (as typical of a double-elimination tournament), should the winners’ bracket winner defeats the losers’ bracket winner, the tournament ends. It is therefore unknown, until this match has been concluded, whether the second scheduled match will in fact be required. This can also be seen as a disadvantage of the system, particularly if broadcasting and ticket sales companies have an interest in the tournament. Another substantial disadvantage of the double-elimination format is the fact that some games are played by competitors that have completed the unequal number of matches so far in the tournament. For example, a competitor needs 4 games to qualify for the final through the W bracket in a tournament with 16 competitors. Competitors that work their way through the L bracket must play around 5-7, games to reach the final. The unequal number of completed matches might lead to unfair competition, especially in the final: while one final competitor waits too long for the next game, another final competitor must play multiple matches in a short time, one after another, without sufficient regeneration. Examples of use Baseball The NCAA baseball tournament employs a double-elimination format, including the Men's College World Series, where a team is not eliminated until it loses twice in each of the four rounds (regional, super regional, Men's College World Series, and MCWS championship, with the super regional and MCWS championship series featuring two teams in a best-of-3 format). The NCAA softball tournament (including the Women's College World Series) uses a virtually identical format, with the only difference being in the format of the respective College World Series. The eight teams in the MCWS are split into two double-elimination brackets, with the survivor of each bracket advancing to the championship series. The WCWS also features eight teams initially divided into two brackets, and the championship is also determined in a best-of-3 series. However, the loser of the second-round game in each bracket, featuring the winners of that bracket's first-round games, is moved into the opposite bracket to play an