Circa Sports is raising the stakes again on its NFL handicapping contests — in more ways than one.
The downtown sportsbook has not only increased the guaranteed prize money for its $1,000-entry Circa Survivor from $10 million last year to a record $15 million this year, but it also has added a high-roller $100,000-entry Survivor contest called Circa Grandissimo.
The Grandissimo, which takes its name from a hotel-casino planned by Caesars Palace and Circus Circus founder Jay Sarno that never came to fruition, will feature the same rules as Survivor, with a few notable exceptions.
The Grandissimo has a guaranteed prize of $1.5 million to the winner, and the maximum number of entries is two, compared to 10 for Survivor.
“We’ve always known that there is a demand for a higher-stakes Circa Survivor with less contestants in it,” Circa owner Derek Stevens said. “Grandissimo, to me, represents a blend of Las Vegas and the biggest, the best and the most luxurious.
“I just thought it was an appropriate term for the largest football contest in history.”
In both Survivor contests, contestants pick one straight-up NFL winner — no point spread involved — each week but can use each team only once.
Survivor drew 14,266 entries for a record $14,266,000 in prize money last season that was split by eight winners who went 20-0 (NFL Weeks 1 through 18, plus Thanksgiving/Black Friday and Christmas).
Stevens credits the five-episode documentary “Circa Survivor: The Quest for $9.2 Million” with helping increase interest in the contest and expects the upcoming 10-episode documentary “Circa Survivor: The Quest for $14.2 Million” to do the same.
“We think that’s really going to help push us,” he said. “That’s what gave us enough confidence to say we’re going to guarantee $15 million this year.”
The Survivor contest will need 15,000 entries to meet the guarantee, and the Grandissimo will need 15. There is no rake, or house cut, in either contest, and all entry fees go into the prize pool.
Circa Million
The $1,000 entry Circa Million VII — in which contestants make five weekly picks against the spread in the 18-week NFL season — will again feature $6 million in guaranteed payouts.
The Million, which needs 6,000 entries to meet the guarantee, fell short last year with a record 5,817 entries. The winner went 60-26-4 ATS (69.8 percent) to claim the $1 million prize for first place. Places two through 100 will be paid a total of $3.65 million.
There will be $1.2 million in quarterly prizes awarded. The last-place “booby prize” will receive $100,000, and the next-to-last-place booby prize will receive $50,000. The limit for entries in Million is five.
‘Good for Las Vegas’
Last year, the wildly popular Survivor drew more than 10 times as many entries as it did in 2020, when 1,390 entries registered for the inaugural contest that paid out $2.39 million to 35 winners ($1 million bonus included).
“I always expected Circa Survivor to make it, but the growth rate’s been really amazing,” Stevens said. “I think the blend of the beautiful simplicity of the contest, plus the continued growth in the NFL has been awesome.
“For me, it’s really fun to see this thing grow. Obviously, it’s good for our business but it’s good for Las Vegas as a destination, and that makes me pretty happy.”
Survivor contestants can purchase up to 10 additional entries if they lose their original entries on either the Eagles-Cowboys NFL season opener on Sept. 4 or the Chiefs-Chargers game in Brazil on Sept. 5. An entrant cannot go into the Saturday deadline with more than 10 active entries.
Each Grandissimo entry includes a luxury vacation at Circa featuring a three-night stay in a Founder’s Suite, round-trip JSX flight to and from Las Vegas, limo transportation to and from the airport, dining experiences at Barry’s Downtown Prime and Andiamo Steakhouse and more.
Sign-ups open at 9 a.m. Friday and run through 2 p.m. Sept. 6 at Circa, the D Las Vegas, Tuscany, The Pass, Silverton and Legends Bay. People outside Nevada can enter the contests and have their weekly selections made through a proxy.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at [email protected]. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
