Las Vegas casinos have a history of football contests with large prizes. When Circa Sports awarded a record $11 million in prize money for 2021-2022 NFL season, it took prizes to another level.
Between its Circa Million III and Circa Survivor contests, multiple participants finished the season winning a minimum of $1 million.
“Our team at Circa Sports introduced some of the biggest football contests in the world within three years of operation, and the payouts were extraordinary,” said Circa Sports CEO Derek Stevens. “We were thrilled to award six individuals win seven-figure prizes, and even got to celebrate with a few of them during game 20 in the world’s largest sportsbook at Circa Resort & Casino.”
It was great to see the reactions of the Circa Sports contest participants as they locked in winning no less than $1 million each. While legal sports betting is spreading across the country, there’s nothing like seeing the excitement of a sports bettor winning big inside of a Las Vegas casino sportsbook.
What it looks to win at least $1 million in the @CircaSports Survivor contest. @CircaLasVegas @VSiNLive. @BillyChippas wins with chiefs win. @DerekJStevens in middle of celebration pic.twitter.com/NsGae0e9L6
— Bill Adee (@Bill80) January 9, 2022
Circa Sports Million III Contest Winners
Last June, Circa Sports announced a new contest prize structure and a minimum of $10 million in prize money for the no-rake pro football contests.
Circa Sports Million III is the $1,000 buy-in contest where participants pick five games weekly against a fixed point spread. The grand prize for this contest was $1 million. The top 50 finishers, along with the last place contestant, took home prizes between $25,000 and $375,000.
This contest also had no less than $250,000 in prizes for quarterly contest leaders. Altogether Circa Sports Million III gave out $4 million in prizes.
This contest produced only one million-dollar winner. Tony Gordon won Circa Sports Million III and took home the $1 million grand prize.
Circa Survivor Contest Winners
For the second year in a row, the Circa Survivor contest had multiple contestants go the distance. This year with fewer winners there were huge prizes. Fiver participants took home more than $1 million by going the distance in the weekly survivor contest.
Unlike the Circa Sports Million contest, participants select one team to win straight up each week. There are no point spreads. However, Circa Survivor contestants could only choose a team once.
The non-traditional survivor-style contest had two extra “weeks” for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. This changeup created a football survivor contest that had 20 selections instead of 18 like a traditional contest.
The cherry on top for participants making it to the last week without losing a game was an additional $1 million prize. These players had to choose either the Kansas City Chiefs or Tampa Bay Buccaneers for their final pick of the season.
Three of the five Circa Survivor contest winners were able to split the extra money and add it to the $1.2 million winning prizes:
- Billy Chippas – $1,533,333.35
- Michael Sax – $1,533,333.35
- Return Of Survivor (alias) – $1,533,333.35
- Chris Piper – $1,200,000.00
- Marc Perlman – $1,200,000.00
The $6 million in prizes for Circa Survivor was quite a step up from last year when 35 players shared $2.39 million. Last year 33 participants each took home $68,285.71. Two contestants had multiple entries and took home $136,571.43 each.
Las Vegas Contest, National Participation
The Circa Sports football contests are becoming a Las Vegas sports betting staple. While a participant must sign up for the contests in person at a Circa Sports location in Las Vegas, they may participate from anywhere by having a proxy submit picks every week.
Circa Sports now has five locations in Las Vegas, making it easier than ever to participate in the contests:
- Circa Resort & Casino
- The D
- Golden Gate
- Tuscany
- The Pass
The locations are spread out all around Las Vegas. Circa, The D and Golden Gate are on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas.
Tuscany Suites and Casino is a long walk or short ride just east of the Vegas Strip. The Pass is in Henderson, NV. Beer lovers might enjoy a stop at Pub 365 after signing up at Tuscany for the contests next year.
Circa Sports will announce details for the 2022-2023 football contests this summer.
