Circa Sports announces record $10 million payout for its popular Survivor Contest

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.