National Fantasy Football Draft Day Lineup Set for Circa Las Vegas

^{Circa's Stadium Swim will be the backdrop for hosting a number of fantasy football drafts during the month of August. (Photo courtesy of Draft Nation)}

LAS VEGAS – The National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and Fantasy Football World Championship (FFWC) merger is complete, joining two of the biggest brands in the industry. Now the fantasy sports giants will be leading the celebration of National Fantasy Football Draft Day among many others at Circa Resort & Casino from August 20 to 22.

The three-day event presented by Draft Nation will include numerous activities, but most notably over 100 live fantasy football drafts hosted at Circa. Packages include hotel rooms, expert panels, open bars, cocktail parties, and private poolside cabanas at Stadium Swim. 

Weekend festivities will feature appearances by 2012 NFL MVP Adrian Peterson, 2008 World Series champion Jayson Werth, and sports broadcaster Michelle Beadle, who will also serve as emcee throughout the weekend. There will be five celebrity fantasy football drafts that will raise money for the V Foundation for Cancer Research as well.

"It celebrates the world of fantasy football, and all the passionate people that love to play fantasy," said Bill Enright, co-founder of Draft Nation. "Everyone that attends will get a once-in-a-lifetime experience at the greatest resort in Las Vegas for sports fans. Meet NFL legends, hang out with celebrities, and get direct fantasy advice from your favorite fantasy analysts. This isn't your normal Las Vegas convention. It's a party!"

Adam Ronis – who co-hosts Fantasy Life on SiriusXM’s Fantasy Sports Radio – said he can’t wait for National Fantasy Football Draft Day because it brings the human element back into play. Currently, most fantasy drafts are done online without much personal interaction.

“This is going to be epic,” Ronis said. “Drafts in person are the best, and we lost that element in fantasy sports. To be around great people and draft at Circa is going to be a memorable time. I encourage everyone to go."
 

How National Fantasy Football Draft Day Became a Holiday

Drafts will take place throughout Circa on both Friday (Aug. 21) and Saturday (Aug. 22). However, the official annual holiday has been designated for Aug. 21 and will be celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday at Stadium Swim.

Rick Wolf is a co-founder of Draft Nation and a Founding Board Member of the Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association (FSGA), and he helped make National Fantasy Football Draft Day a recognized holiday. Wolf told Casinos.com that an application was submitted to National Day Calendar, an organization that receives 30,000 per year and only accepts between 30 and 40. His group’s submission obviously made the cut.

“In 2025, over 60 million people played fantasy football in the U.S. – there were only 48.1 million people who played golf,” Wolf said. “Fantasy Football is America's favorite non-contact sport, so now is the right time to celebrate it. Representatives from the National Day Calendar will be coming to cut a ribbon for the holiday at 6:30 p.m. at Stadium Swim and present us with the proclamation.  We plan to give everyone in attendance the chance to sign it. Circa will frame the proclamation and display it for all to see.”

Celebrity Fantasy Football Drafts Will Help ‘Sack Cancer’

The five celebrity fantasy football drafts will take place on August 22. Leading the drafts will be  WWE wrestler The Miz, Sports Illustrated columnist Michael Fabiano, Shark Bets CEO Jen Piacenti, and actors Tom Everett Scott and James Roday Rodriguez. They will each draft teams and donate any winnings from their respective fantasy football leagues to the V Foundation as part of the “Sack Cancer” campaign for childhood cancer research. The grand prize is $300,000.

Piacenti has been an avid fantasy football player and bettor for more than a decade, previously participating in the Circa Survivor contest in addition to fantasy football drafts there.

“Drafting at Circa is always an incredible experience, but the 'Beat Jen Piacenti' league drafting on National Fantasy Football Draft Day weekend brings a completely different level of energy,” Piacenti said. “Competitive fire is exactly what makes the fantasy football community so special. Most importantly, we are channeling that energy toward an incredible cause. The message to 'never give up' is the driving force behind the V Foundation, and I am incredibly honored to host a league that directly funds the brilliant scientists fighting pediatric cancer. Good luck to everyone trying to take me down, though!”

First Legacy League to Draft on Ultimate Contest Weekend

The first-ever, high-stakes Legacy League will not be a part of National Fantasy Football Draft Day, but it will take place at Circa the next weekend. That happens to be right in the middle of Circa’s Ultimate Contest Weekend, set up to drive sign-ups for the sportsbook’s football contests.

On Aug. 28, the $100,000 per entry Legacy League will hold its inaugural fantasy football draft at Stadium Swim, with 12 teams getting to make picks from their own cabanas and view them on a 143-foot screen. There were still two open spots in the Legacy League as of July 13, with the total prize pool listed at $1,150,000 and a potential $700,000 of that amount going to a championship team that wins both the regular season and playoffs. 

“Imagine drafting from a war room cabana at Stadium Swim with the screens being the world's largest draft board,” FullTime Fantasy CEO Ian Ritchie said. “Be treated like a VIP all weekend, meet and play against Circa owner Derek Stevens and take advantage of all the spaces Circa has to offer. Plus, it's a great opportunity to play while in town for Ultimate Contest Weekend.”

The winner of the regular season will take home $100,000, with the playoff champion earning $600,000, so those two can be different. The top four regular-season teams will qualify for the Legacy League playoffs, which will also pay out runner-up ($250,000) and third-place ($100,000) prizes. Anyone interested in joining the Legacy League on their website.