Last year, Las Vegas hotel-casino owner Derek Stevens got everyone’s attention by offering a $10 million guarantee for the Circa Survivor NFL contest. As it turns out, he was just warming up for this year.
In May, Stevens and his team at Circa Sports announced that the Circa Survivor guarantee for the 2025 NFL season is a whopping $15 million. And the expectation is that there will be more than enough entries, at $1,000 apiece, to cover that bill.
2025 Circa Survivor
Ahead of Pace
UPDATE TUESDAY, AUG. 5: To cover the $15 million guarantee, Circa Sports will need 15,000 entries, at $1,000 apiece. Considering that Circa Survivor drew 14,266 entries last year – which hiked the pot from the guaranteed $10 million up to $14.266 million – Circa isn’t sweating this year’s minimum entries required.
“We’re [well] ahead of pace, year over year,” Circa director of sportsbook operations Jeff Benson said, with more than 4,100 entries already. “I imagine we’ll blast off at over 15,000 entries.
“Somewhere in the 17,500 range and up is probably a good barometer.”
The high-stakes Circa Grandissimo Survivor contest is also on a strong early pace. Entry fee is $100,000, with a guaranteed purse of $1.5 million, meaning 15 entries will cover the bill. Circa is already more than two-thirds of the way there.
“We’re at 11 entries, and one individual purchased two of them. Two entries could be very powerful,” Benson said.
Benson expects the pot to be significantly higher than the $1.5 million guarantee.
“The response has been really positive. I think we’re gonna get more people than we thought. I imagine there’ll be 25-35 entries,” he said. “That’d be great. If we’re able to get 2 to 2.5 times [the guarantee], that’d be a pretty strong number.
“It just speaks well to the Circa Sports brand in the contest arena.”
Circa Million
UPDATE TUESDAY, AUG. 5: Like last year, Circa Million will remain at a $6 million guaranteed pot. Last year, Circa Sports had to absorb modest overlay, as the contest attracted 5,817 entries at $1,000 apiece ($5.817 million).
Benson believes Circa Million could reach that 6,000 threshold this season. The contest calls for entrants to make five NFL picks each week against the spread.
“We’re pacing slightly ahead of last year. I think we’ll get pretty close to 6,000. If we’re able to get it over 6,000, that would be awfully exciting,” Benson said.
