Circa Sports is sweetening the pot for its NFL handicapping contests this season.
Its marquee Survivor and Million contests will shell out $16 million in guaranteed prize money, up from $14 million last year and $12 million in 2022. The Vegas operator has increased the guaranteed prize money for its Circa Survivor and Circa Million contests each year for the last three years.
The entry fee remains the same, as $1,000 gets you an entry to both pots and the house won’t take a cut in either contest, so these no-rake terms mean that all entry fees go into the prize pool.
The Survivor pool had an $8 million guarantee last year, but 9,267 entrants pushed that number by more than $1.2 million. Raising the stakes again this year for the 2024 NFL Survivor contest, Circa owner Derek Stevens told the Las Vegas Review Journal that the Survivor’s $10 million prize is “the biggest guarantee in any football contest ever.”
The Million contest will feature $6 million in guaranteed payouts, the same figure as last year’s pot. The 2023 rendition only garnered 5,274 entries which fell short of the $6 million guarantee, so Circa had to cover the overlay.
The Biggest Football Contests are back!!
— Derek Stevens (@DerekJStevens) May 23, 2024
$16 Million Guaranteed!!
Sign-ups begin tomorrow at 9AM. For more info, visit https://t.co/JUwLKLLuiD#CircaSportsMillion VI#CircaSurvivor #Vegas pic.twitter.com/PXSulN0McG
Contest details
Circa Survivor allows up to 10 entries per person, with a rebuy option for up to ten additional entries until the registration deadline if the picks lose on the opening Thursday Night Football game or Friday game. Each team can only be selected once throughout the season, and teams playing on Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and Christmas will need to survive both holiday weeks.
Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year, so the Christmas Day doubleheader and the Dec. 26 TNF game will add a little wrinkle to players planning for their picks.
The last remaining entry wins the entire survivor pool, which could be more than $10 million if the contest attracts more than 10,000 contestants.
Circa Million only allows a max of five entries per person. Players will make five NFL picks against the spread each week, getting one point for each correct selection and one-half point for each push. There are a few more bites at the apple in this contest, too.
First place earns $1 million, and there is a total of $3.65 million in cash prizes for places 2-100. $300,000 in prizes are awarded every 4-5 weeks. Even the last place and second to last place get some action with a $100,000 and $50,000 “booby prize,” respectively.
If the Million contest gets more than 6,000 entries, any extra fees go into the quarter and full-season prizes.
What Happens In Vegas
Contestants are required to sign-up in Nevada at all Circa Sports Nevada locations. Sign-ups begin on Friday, May 24 at 9 a.m. PT and are open until Sept. 8 at 2 p.m. PT.
Weekly picks for both contests must be submitted from within Nevada, either at Circa’s retail sportsbooks or its online sportsbook app.
Not heading to the Silver State anytime soon? People outside Nevada will need to register with a Nevada-based proxy service to enter the contests and to cast their weekly selections.
Stevens sees these contests as positive drivers for the greater Las Vegas economy.
“We’re doing this in a way to help develop the market, to really let everybody know that we think Las Vegas is the epicenter for football contests and to drive some tourism,” he said.
One for the ages
Last year’s contests definitely had drama.
Four contestants ended up splitting the $9.2 million Circa Survivor pool prize. Thirteen entrants remained late in December when poker-pro-turned-sports-bettor Sean Perry refused a proposal to chop the final prize pool with the other contestants.
Circa Million came down to the Bills-Dolphins matchup in Week 18 where the top two contestants each took opposite picks for that game. Despite the Bills falling behind 14-7 at halftime, their second half comeback to win 21-14 helped SAINT31 take home the top prize from his Bills -3 pick.
