The NFL is king when it comes to sports betting, and in recent years no casino in the United States has ran more successful contests than Circa Sports.
The Nevada-based sports betting brand, which has now expanded into five states, announced on Thursday morning that its popular Circa Survivor Contest — in which contestants must pick one team each week to win its game, and can’t use the same team twice in a season — will have a record $10 million prize guarantee, up from $6 million last season.
That marks the first time in U.S. sports betting history that there is an eight-figure guaranteed payout for a contest.
“Each year, we’ve bumped up the guarantee,” Circa owner and CEO Derek Stevens told For The Win on a call this week. “Last year, we guaranteed $8 million, ended up with $9.2 million in entries. We think that trend is going to continue to grow. We’re doing a $10 million guarantee. There’s never been a football content with a eight-figure payout. We’re excited about it.”
The contest requires sign-up in Nevada and all weekly entries to be made by either the contestant in the state or a proxy.
The Circa Millions contest — which requires contestants to pick five games of their choosing every NFL week against the spread — also is raising its guaranteed payout from $4 million to $6 million. Both contests have no rake, meaning that all prize money goes back to participants.
Sign-ups begin on Friday, May 24 at 9 a.m. PT at all Circa Sports Nevada locations and are open until Sept. 8 at 2 p.m. PT.
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