- Week 14 took a heavy toll on contestants in the Circa Sports ‘Circa Survivor’ event as two of the three most popular picks bit the dust.
- Green Bay’s loss to the New York Giants and Pittsburgh’s loss to New England eliminated over half of the remaining contestants.
- Thirteen entrants remain heading into Week 15.
The Nevada sports betting ecosystem can be pretty dismal at times but one unquestionable positive has been the continued growth of Circa Sports. They’ve expanded their mobile betting to Iowa, Colorado and Illinois and have added retail locations in Nevada and at recently opened American Place in Illinois.
One of the areas where Circa has had the most impact is in the Las Vegas football contest scene. Of particular note, the ‘Circa Survivor’ contest has been a huge hit. This year, the price pool has soared to $9,267,000 in 2023, with each remaining entry currently worth an implied $712,846 – the largest prize ever in a professional football betting contest.
I’m sure y’all know how survivor contests work–each contestant makes one pick a week that has to win straight up. The challenge is that each team can be used only once. That makes the parity focused NFL even more volatile and it’s important to determine how you want to strategize team usage. Unfortunately, too many contestants try to use the same strategy and if a popular choice goes down it can decimate the field.
Three picks dominated week 14 among the 30 remaining entries: Pittsburgh – 8, Baltimore – 7 and Green Bay – 7. Pittsburgh was first to fall on Thursday night against red-hot backup quarterback, Bailey Zappe, leading to a 21-18 loss. As a result, the field was reduced to 22 entries by the time picks were revealed on Saturday. Baltimore, despite going into overtime, successfully managed to survive the week. However, Green Bay faced misfortune on Monday night against Tommy Devito and New York, leading to its loss. Detroit and Miami also contributed to the diminishing entries, each losing one and bringing the total down to 13.
Such was the case in Week 14. Circa Sports provided a press release account of the carnage:
Las Vegas sports betting brand Circa Sports reports that only 13 entrants remain in its professional football contest, Circa Survivor. There was a significant shakeup as two of the three most popular picks went down, resulting in the elimination of 17 of the remaining 30 entries.
This marks the second consecutive year that over half of the field was eliminated in week 14. Last year, 40 of the 70 entrants were eliminated, dropping the total to 30. In the end, two contestants ended up splitting the $6.1 million dollar prize.
There’s been some talk of a potential ‘deal’ among the 14 remaining contestants but as of yet none appears to have been brokered. A chopped pot becomes more likely as the number of contestants shrinks.
