Launched in 2020, the Circa Survivor is the biggest NFL survivor contest out of Las Vegas. It has a $1,000 buy-in and is known for attracting thousands of entries. The goal is just as the name suggests, to survive. Make it to the end of the pro football regular season, and you will be sharing the winnings from the contest prize pool. If you’re the only contestant remaining, the entire prize pool will be yours.
Like a standard survivor contest, contestants pick one team each week to win. Contestants pick the team to win straight up without the use of point spreads. The twist is that once a contestant selects a team, that team can no longer be selected for the remainder of the season. Every week that the team a contestant selects wins, the contestant advances. If the selected team loses, the contestant is eliminated. It’s that simple.
Circa Survivor 2023 Quick Facts
- $8,000,000 guaranteed prize pool
- $1,000 entry fee
- Multiple entries allowed – maximum 10 entries for 2023
- Contestants pick one team per week to win
- Can only select a team once
- 20 unique selection weeks – each NFL week, plus individual weeks for Thanksgiving Day/Black Friday and Christmas Day
- Official rules
Circa Survivor History & Past Winners
2020: 35 Contestants Chop $2,390,000 Prize Pool
The first-ever Circa Survivor had 1,390 entries. The contest had 18 weeks for selections to be made – the 17-week regular season plus Thanksgiving Day games were their own contest week. From the entries costing $1,000 each, there was $1,390,000 in the prize pool. Circa then offered a $1,000,000 bonus to be split amongst any contestants to go a perfect 18-0.
Entering the final week of the pro football regular season, 35 contestants were still alive. All 35 of them made it through the NFL’s Week 17, meaning they would all share in evenly chopping the $2,390,000 pot. Each of the 35 survivors took home $68,285. Two contestants, “LOVEMYBAXTER” and “TIM’S SUNSCREEN,” had two entries remaining each, so they doubled up to win $136,571 in prize money.
2021: Five Contestants Score More Than $1,000,000 Each
The 2021 Circa Survivor drew 4,080 contestants to the mix, all trying to become the last contestant standing. At the end of the 20-week contest season (Circa Survivor had unique weeks for Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day games in addition to the 18-week regular season), five contestants were left standing – “MYCOOL,” “RETURN OF SURVIVOR,” “ON TOP 247,” “SYRACUSE HAWKEYES,” and “CHRIS PIPER.”
The contest this year had a $6,000,000 guaranteed prize pool, leading to all five contestants chopping it up for $1,200,000 each. There was then a $1,000,000 bonus on offer for contestants who went a perfect 20-0 and did not select either team from the prior season’s Super Bowl (Kansas City and Tampa Bay). “MYCOOL,” “RETURN OF SURVIVOR,” and “ON TOP 247” did not select the Chiefs or Buccaneers during the season, so they chopped up the million-dollar bonus for an additional $333,333 each.
2022: Two Contestants Win More Than $3,000,000 Apiece
The 2022 Circa Survivor contest saw a field of 6,133 entries battling to win millions of dollars in prize money. When all 20 contest weeks were said and done, only two contestants had survived until the end – “BROWNA” and “JED.” These two contestants successfully navigated their way through the pro football regular season by picking a different team to win each week without using a team more than once.
“BROWNA” and “JED” each went a perfect 20-0 (Circa Survivor had unique weeks for Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day games) and chopped up the $6,133,000 prize pool, taking home $3,066,500 apiece.
2023: Record 9,267 Entries
The 2023 Circa Survivor attracted a record field size of 9,267 entries to create a $9,267,000 prize pool. The winner is to be determined.