Following the conclusion of its Circa Million, Survivor and Grandissimo professional football contests for the 2025-2026 season, Circa Sports set a new record with $31m in total prizes paid out to the winners of each event.
Five participants of the Circa Survivor contest split the largest prize pool in the competition’s history, totaling just over $18.7m and resulting in respective payouts of $3.74m. The contestants were able to correctly choose NFL spreads in 20 consecutive weeks of the regular season.
Circa Sports also awarded prizes of $1m, $500,000, $400,000 and $325,000 for the top finishers of its seventh annual Circa Survivor contest. For the first time in Circa Sports history, a tiebreaker was needed to decide which entry would be awarded the $1m payout.
The operator also awards what is deemed a “booby prize” for the contestant who finishes with the worst record among all Circa Survivor entries, paying out $100,000 for last place and $50,000 for the runner-up.
On Thanksgiving weekend, Circa Sports concluded its Circa Grandissimo contest, which represented the operator’s first-ever “luxury” tournament and required a $100,000 buy-in. Six contestants who tied for first place in the contest split $6.9m in prizes.
In August, Circa Sports Kentucky held the official grand opening for its new sportsbook at The Mint Gaming Hall Kentucky Downs, including a ribbon-cutting ceremony with guests such as Owner and CEO Derek Stevens and Mint Gaming Hall Co-Managing Partner Marc Falcone.
Circa Sports Kentucky held a soft launch of its new sportsbook on July 23, offering over 5,100 sq ft of betting space, 80-foot LED viewing experience, five betting stations, a live broadcast studio and 31-foot odds board for real-time lines and updates.
DraftKings formed a new partnership with Mindway AI on January 5 to integrate the RG solution provider's Gamalyze tool, which evaluates real-time decision-making through a simulated card game
