Circa Unveils ‘Survivor Empathy Package’ After Havoc Hits NFL Pool

Posted on: September 18, 2024, 01:24h. 

Last updated on: September 18, 2024, 01:37h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

With two weeks of the NFL season in the books, the Circa Survivor pool has been pared dramatically. So much so that the gaming company is offering losers an empathy package, which includes free rooms at Circa Resort & Casino in downtown Las Vegas.

Circa contests
Circa Sportsbook in downtown Las Vegas. Nearly three-quarters of this year’s Circa Survivor Entries are gone after just two weeks. (Image: Las Vegas Weekly)

Following a spate of upsets involving the most chosen teams in the first two weeks of the season, a pool that started with an all-time high of 14,266 entries has been slashed to 3,877 contenders — a record amount of attrition in the first two weeks, according to Circa Sports. In the survivor pool, contestants pick one NFL team each week to win outright — not against the spread — but they can only choose that team once during the season.

While those who are now “off the island” are no longer eligible for the $14.26 million prize pool, Circa is attempting to ease those contestants’ pain.

Contestants with one or two entries can redeem a two-night midweek stay at Circa Resort & Casino and a $0 minimum daybed at Circa’s year-round pool amphitheater Stadium Swim,” according to a statement issued by the gaming company. “Contestants with three or more entries out in the first two rounds can redeem a three-night midweek stay at Circa and a $0 minimum daybed at Stadium Swim.”

Those offers can only be redeemed between November 3 and December 26. Each survivor participant is capped at five entries at $1,000 apiece.

How the Circa Survivor Pool Shrank So Fast

This isn’t the first time Circa Sports has used the empathy package to ease the sting felt by jilted survivor contestants. The gaming company deployed the same tactic in 2022 with some success.

In terms of how the pool shrank so rapidly, spotting the offending teams is easy. In week one, it was the Cincinnati Bengals losing to the New England Patriots that cut a significant amount of survivor participants. Alone, the Bengals’ loss accounted for 34.3% of the entries lost in Week 1.

Things didn’t get any better in Week 2. Another 26.5% of Circa Survivor entries departed when the Baltimore Ravens lost at home to the Las Vegas Raiders. Nearly 10% of contestants were booted after the Detroit Lions fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Another 8.1% of entries were gone due to choosing either the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, or Indianapolis Colts.

The final nail in the Week 2 coffin arrived courtesy of “Monday Night Football.” Entering that game, 785 Circa Survivor participants had selected the Philadelphia Eagles, but the Atlanta Falcons dramatically beat the Eagles.

Circa Survivor Attrition Rate Easily Outpaces Prior Record

Just two weeks into the 2024 NFL season, just 27.2% of the Circa Survivor entries remain, which is far worse than the previous record low through two weeks. That happened in 2022 when just 32.8% of contestants were still around for week three.

The pool is designed for 20 weeks — 18 weeks plus the NFL games on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve — but survivor ends when there is just one entry remaining. At this rate, that could occur sooner rather than later.