Users of the $21 million NFL Survivor contest launched by Splash Sports and the platform's broader $25 million NFL Survivor slate can now buy or sell stakes in their entries. and form team entries through the platform before the season begins.
Both features are expected to go live ahead of the Week 1. The NFL season begins on Wednesday, September, 9 as the defending champion Seattle Seahawks play host to the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl 60 rematch.
The $21 million NFL Survivor contest on Splash Sports sponsored by Polymarket is the first such contest offered by any licensed prediction site in the U.S.
That guarantee tops the $20 million offered by the Circa Survivor contest, considered the industry's gold standard.
Splash Sports co-founder T.J. Ross told RotoWire that the two new features came, in part, due to multiple requests from players on the site. NFL Survivor entries cost $1,000 apiece.
"And sometimes it's not even a budgetary thing. It's just more fun to sweat it out with your friends, which is a big part of what we do. And so we know people are already doing this. This is a feature that's been asked for time and time again for years, and so we thought this was the perfect place to launch it," Ross told RotoWire.
Marketplace Allows Users To Buy, Sell Entry Stakes
The "Splash Survivor Marketplace" allows users to sell stakes between 1% and 100% of their entry at any time during the season. This opens the door for someone to cash out fully or simply hedge. Trades can only be executed by real human beings verified by the platform's current KYC model. No bots. And, of course, the price fully depends on what other traders are willing to offer. Users can be active traders, or simply list a price and wait for bids.
Ross believes allowing users to buy or sell stakes in a Survivor contest entry eliminates multiple obstacles for those wishing to participate after the season begins. Whether they be buyers or sellers.
"Survivor is just growing at such a crazy rate and it's such a fun dynamic game. We thought that, hey, if we can turn this from a game where only one person wins to a game where many people win and anyone can win at any given time, it just makes it even more dynamic and creates a ton of potential for Survivor to keep growing," Ross said. "The issue for one of the Vegas contests, it has to settle up off platform.
And so people have to get into contract negotiation. That creates a lot of complications. Everything happens on our platform. It makes it instant and really clean. No additional paperwork required so someone can buy or sell entries in seconds."
NFL Survivor Contest Entries 'Tend To Be Last-Minute'
Splash initially offered 22,700 spots in its contest and still has more than 22,000 available. Meanwhile, the Circa Survivor contest surpassed 5,000 entries last week. Ross, who speaks highly of his counterparts in Nevada and elsewhere, said he has no concerns about the current volume of entries on Splash.
"To enter a contest out in the desert, you have to actually buy a plane ticket, book hotel, get out there and sign up in person. So their stuff is always filled up over the course of the summer and they're doing well. For us, you can enter the second before the contest starts. So it tends to be really last minute. Users get to hold onto their money longer. It's a behavior that we've seen since launching Splash and totally expected, and we're feeling good on our end," he said.
The Splash-Polymarket NFL Survivor Contest allows individuals to enter up to 150 times. Because 22,700 entries are available, operators would clear 8.09% if all the entries are used (off a total take of $22,700,000). The total will be paid to the winner regardless of the number of entries. The Circa Survivor contest as the same $1,000 buy-in, with a 10-entry limit per player.
The marketplace and team entry options allow for a "more dynamic" contest, Ross said.
"There can be more people winning. A lot of people will lose in week two or week three or even week one, and they're so bummed out and they want back in the contest. Now you can buy back in by buying someone else's entry or part of it," he said.
Ross expects around five winners in the Splash Sports Survivor Contest.
"Then you have people who don't earn a ton of money. They've bought one entry into the contest and they're still alive in week 15 and their entry is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. This would be a way for them to decide, 'Hey, do I want to cash out of this entry? Do I want to take some chips off the table and keep playing for the big thing?' It's a way for them to have liquidity in the contest throughout the year. So really, really excited for it."
Under the Team Entries, users can invite others to share ownership of a survivor entry before the contest begins. At launch:
● One team captain makes the picks
● Everyone accesses the entry from their own Splash app
● Each member pays in for whatever share they're comfortable with
● Groups can pool entry fees to play bigger contests than they could enter solo
