$10M up for grabs in Circa’s NFL contests
Handicappers chase $6M in Survivor, $4M in Millions III
Circa Sports is going all in on its NFL handicapping contests.
The downtown sportsbook is ponying up the largest pro football contest guaranteed prize money ever of $10 million for Circa Millions III and Circa Survivor.
The $1,000 entry Circa Survivor will feature a $6 million guaranteed payout — up from $1 million last season — and the $1,000 entry Circa Millions III will feature $4 million in guaranteed payouts, up from $3 million last year.
“With all the interest in sports gambling and the fact that people were locked down, we felt football contests would explode in popularity,” Circa Sports CEO Derek Stevens said. “We think doing the $10 million guarantee is going to be great for Las Vegas and is going to draw a lot of people to our city.
“This is going to create a great summer, and we’re excited about everybody coming to Las Vegas.”
Circa Sports Million II beat the guarantee with 3,148 entries. This year’s contest will need 4,000 entries to meet the guarantee. The name of the contest has changed to Circa Millions III, but the format is the same. Entrants make five NFL picks against the spread each week.
The top 50 places will be paid, with the winner guaranteed $1 million. There will be $1 million in quarterly prizes awarded. First place in each quarter will receive $150,000, second place $50,000, third place $25,000 and last place $25,000. Each contestant can have up to three entries in Circa Millions III.
The inaugural Circa Survivor beat the guarantee with 1,390 entries. This year’s contest will need 6,000 entries to meet the guarantee. Contestants pick one NFL team to win straight up each week, with no point spreads involved. If that team loses or ties, the contestant is eliminated. Each team can be used only once all season.
The last remaining player wins the $6 million. If the player completes an undefeated season, the player receives an additional $1 million.
Thirty-five players went 18-0 last season, when there was a 17-week NFL season and Circa considered Thanksgiving Day its own contest week.
Contestants will have to go 20-0 this year, when the NFL is expanding to an 18-week season and Circa is considering Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day as their own contest week.
Players must make sure they have a team available to select for the threegame slate on Thanksgiving and the two-game slate on Christmas, or they will be eliminated.
Circa also added another wrinkle that, to be eligible for the $1 million undefeated bonus prize, an entrant must pick either the Kansas City Chiefs or Tampa Bay Buccaneers in NFL Week 18.
“Last year, we had 35 people go undefeated, and this year we’re expecting more people, so we had to make it tougher,” Stevens said. “But the payouts are a hell of a lot bigger.”
Each contestant can have up to six entries in Circa Survivor, up from a maximum of five last year.
To be clear, if more than one entrant goes undefeated, they will split the $6 million guaranteed cash prize. But if any of those entrants picks the Chiefs or Buccaneers in the final week of the regular season, they will win an extra $1 million.
“Does someone really want to save Tampa Bay or Kansas City?” Stevens said. “You’ve got two of the best teams. Are you not going to use them during the year? It adds a lot of strategy and game theory to the contest.”
Circa Sports does not take an administrative fee, or rake, for either contest. If entries exceed the guarantee for Circa Millions III, the additional money will be added to the quarterly prizes. Any extra money in the Circa Survivor will be added to the $6 million prize.
“We don’t take the rake because the whole angle for us is we want people to visit Golden Gate and the D and visit the world’s biggest sportsbook at Circa,” Stevens said. “We think it’s a big attraction that will bring people to Las Vegas.”
Registration starts Friday. Sign-ups can be made at the Golden Gate, D Las Vegas, Circa, Tuscany, The Pass and on the Circa Sports Nevada mobile app. People living outside Nevada can enter the contests and have their weekly selections made through a proxy.