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Read Full BioNFL underdogs feasted over the holiday week, and the field for Circa Survivor was slashed from 900 to 45 entries as a result.
A record $18.7M will be awarded to the winner(s) after eight entries survived and split last season’s $14,266,000 top prize (or $1,783,250 per person).
Circa Survivor entrants are tasked with picking one game on Thanksgiving or Black Friday. Underdogs stole the show by winning all four games outright, shaking things up dramatically.
- Packers 31 Lions 24
- Cowboys 31 Chiefs 28
- Bengals 32 Ravens 14
- Bears 25 Eagles 15
While the Lions (-2.5) and Chiefs (-3.5) were slight favorites, the Ravens (+7.5) and Eagles (+7.5) were clearly expected to win at home.
“This is a holiday weekend everyone will remember for a very long time,” Circa Sports Director of Operations Jeffrey Benson said. “Winning in the NFL isn’t easy. All four dogs win outright, and it totally turns the contests upside down.”
Look at the carnage that was created:
Looking ahead to NFL Week 14, here are the biggest favorites on the betting board:
- Saints vs. Bucs (-8.5)
- Rams (-8.5) vs. Cardinals
- Seahawks (-7.5) vs. Falcons
- Broncos (-7.5) vs. Raiders
Circa contest entrants have to select one outright winner in the NFL over 20 weeks, and they can only use a team once. The difficulty of avoiding the occasional and inevitable upset was on full display last week.
The Rams were the biggest favorite, laying 10.5 points to the host Panthers. Carolina pulled off an improbable 31-28 win. That knocked out four entries in Circa Survivor, leaving 45 entries to compete for the record prize.
Inaugural Circa Grandissimo Ends With Six Winning $1M+
Six remaining entries headed into the holiday weekend for Circa Grandissimo, which debuted this year with 69 entrants paying a $100,000 entry fee.
Three selected the Ravens, and three chose the Eagles. The Bengals and Bears wiped out all six with huge upset wins. Circa’s contest rules dictate that if zero entries remain, the contest ends with the last remaining entries splitting the prize pool.
The six winners each received $1,150,000 with an equal split of the $6,900,000 prize pool.
“What an unbelievable ending to the first-ever Circa Grandissimo,” Circa Sports CEO Derek Stevens said. “We never thought we could get 69 people to participate in a $100,000 entry fee contest. With the highest entry fee for a football contest ever, we were simply hoping to get 15 entrants. The demand for a high-stakes contest, under the Circa Sports umbrella, was truly amazing.”
