SPIDER LEAGUEWhat is Spider League?
Spider League is a game in which friends photograph spiders they find in the wild and compete over whose finds are the most dangerous and the most rare. Tim Robinson made it famous on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2025 as a group-chat game he plays with friends. The Commissioner is a free Slack app that runs Spider League in your workspace: members post photos of spiders they find, and an AI commissioner identifies each species, rates its danger and rarity, awards points, and keeps the season standings.
What app does Tim Robinson use for Spider League?
Tim Robinson has described his Spider League as a group chat in which friends send each other spider photos. Several independent apps now recreate the game: The Commissioner runs it inside Slack, and The Spider League runs it on iPhone and Android. None of these apps is affiliated with Tim Robinson.
How do you play Spider League in Slack?
Install The Commissioner, create a channel such as #spider-league, and add the app to the channel. Members post spider photos there. The Commissioner replies in each photo's thread with the species, a danger rating, a rarity rating, and the points awarded, and it posts the league standings every Monday.
How does Spider League scoring work?
Each find scores (danger × 8 + rarity × 6) × a confidence multiplier. Danger and rarity each run from 1 to 10, and the multiplier runs from 0.5 to 1.0 with the Commissioner's confidence in the identification. A sharp photo of a dangerous, rare spider scores highest, and the maximum is 140 points.
Can the Commissioner identify black widows and other dangerous spiders?
Yes. The Commissioner identifies the species from the photo, rates its danger to humans from 1 to 10, and flags medically significant spiders such as widows. When it cannot see a spider clearly, it enlarges the photo for a closer look, and if the spider stays unresolved, it says the danger cannot be assessed. Its ratings are AI-generated estimates and never medical advice; photograph dangerous spiders from a distance.
What happens if the Commissioner gets an identification wrong?
Any member may appeal a ruling once by replying “appeal” in its thread, optionally with a new photo of the same spider. The Commissioner reviews its original ruling, states its grounds, and issues a verdict of affirmed, amended, or reversed, and the standings update immediately.
How do Spider League seasons work?
An officer of the league ends a season with the /newseason command. The Commissioner crowns the champion, enters the result into the Hall of Fame, and resets the standings to zero for the next season.
How much does The Commissioner cost?
The Commissioner is free to install and play. Members may contribute voluntarily toward the AI fees each ruling costs.
Is The Commissioner affiliated with Tim Robinson?
No. The Commissioner is an independent fan project inspired by Tim Robinson's Spider League bit. It is not affiliated with Tim Robinson, HBO, or Slack.
What other Spider League apps exist?
As of October 2026, the other Spider League projects include The Spider League, a paid iPhone and Android app from Rockwell Multimedia built around collectible trading cards; spiderleague.app, a web game with battle stats and weekly matchups; and thespiderleague.com, a fan site collecting emails for a future launch. The comparison page lays out the differences.