Circa Sports Reveals Record $30 Million Football Contest Prize Guarantees

^{The Circa Million, Survivor, and Grandissimo football contests will combine for a record $30 million in guaranteed prize money. (Photo: courtesy of Circa Sports)}

LAS VEGAS – The most popular legal NFL football contests in the world promise to be bigger and better than ever in 2026, thanks to Circa Resort & Casino Owner and CEO Derek Stevens raising his guaranteed prize money at Circa Sports.

On Tuesday, Stevens told Mitch Moss and Pauly Howard on VSiN’s "Follow the Money" show that there will be a record $30 million in guaranteed prize money between the Circa Million, Survivor, and Grandissimo contests. Sign-ups will kick off at Circa Sports properties this Friday, May 22. Contestants must enter in Nevada and then can participate remotely via proxy once registered.

In 2025, Circa Survivor set a Las Vegas football contest record for the largest prize pool ever awarded with $18.7 million split between eight winning entries.  Meanwhile, the Grandissimo debuted a year ago as a much higher-stakes version of Survivor with a $100,000 entry fee compared to $1,000 for Circa’s other two contests. The guarantee for Grandissimo was $1.5 million, and the prize pool ended up at $6.9 million with 69 entries.

The Circa Million involves picking five games against the spread (ATS) each week and usually sees the $1 million winner hit better than 67%. There has been a guaranteed prize pool of $6 million in that contest over the past four years. However, the total entries have yet to exceed 6,000, leaving Stevens to pay out of pocket for the guarantee. That number was $315,000 last year.

Circa Survivor Catches Fire with Massive Guarantee

Survivor pools typically require picking one team you think will win straight-up each week without using the same team twice over the course of the season. In Circa Survivor, winners need to get through the full 18-game schedule plus bonus weeks during Thanksgiving and Christmas to go 20-0. The biggest draw, though, has been the guarantee, set at $20 million this year, even though it could have been higher.

Moss, who is a co-host on "Follow the Money" and has worked in Vegas sports radio for 25 years, said Stevens saw the potential in Survivor pools long before the market caught up.

“Derek is from the Midwest – survivor pools are massive there and in most other pockets in the U.S.,” said Moss. “He knew there was a huge appetite and had the vision to become the first sportsbook to offer a survivor contest. Upping the ante with the yearly guarantees has made the contest take off like wildfire.” 

The addition of the Grandissimo last year raised the stakes even more, as Moss said he would not be surprised if that contest gets 200 entries, bringing the prize pool to $20 million. However, Stevens was conservative, offering a $4 million guarantee in 2026 compared to $1.5 million in the first year, with only 40 entries needed to avoid an overlay.

“Last year it did 69 [entries], and people didn't even know about it,” Moss said. “As for Grandissimo's ceiling, depends upon how many people in the poker community become aware of the contest, and bettors with humongous bankrolls overall. I'll use [UFC President] Dana White as an example. Someone like him should be involved. Then what happens when he tells his rich friends who love to gamble, and they tell their friends?” 

Circa Million Raises Entry Max in Attempt to Avoid Overlay

The Circa Million will still have a $6 million guarantee for the fifth consecutive year, but the max entries have increased from five to ten now. The hope is that more people will max out to push it over the 6,000-entry threshold needed in order to prevent Stevens from having an overlay. The Survivor contest’s max is also 10 entries, while Grandissimo’s is two.

It remains to be seen whether or not that change alone will increase entries this year. Moss noted that the Million’s “Pick 5 ATS” format might be getting a bit stale, with many more contestants dreaming of winning even more money with Survivor.

“Las Vegas got lost in point spreads, and forgot that people across the country loved to bet the NFL as many ways as possible,” Moss said. “I think the recent years of Circa Millions has shown us what kind of limit that contest can attract. The sky's the limit for Survivor. I wouldn't be surprised if it touches 25,000 (entries).”