Five contestants still alive for $18.7M prize thanks to Dallas Cowboys’ victory
Five entrants in Las Vegas’ biggest NFL picks contest are grateful for a gift from the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Day in the form of their 30-23 road victory over the Washington Commanders.
The five are among nine entries still alive in Circa Survivor, a $1,000-entry contest with a winner-take-all first prize of more than $18.7 million.
In Circa Survivor, contestants pick one NFL team to win its game each week — straight-up, no point spread involved — but they can only use a team once during the season. Entrants are eliminated with a loss.
Circa also designates the Thanksgiving and Christmas slates as their own separate weeks, meaning surviving entrants will make 20 picks over the course of the season (the 18 regular-season weeks plus the two holidays).
Only 10 entries from the original field of 18,718 were alive entering Christmas Day, and they had to make a pick among these three games:
— Dallas Cowboys at Washington Commanders
— Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings
— Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
The road team was favored in all three contests, but no one had the Lions or Broncos available after picking them earlier in the season.
Five contestants had the Cowboys available and picked them, and the five others had to put their multimillion-dollar hopes on the line with an underdog. One entry took Washington and was eliminated; the other four took the Vikings, who upset the Lions 23-10.
Circa Sports, the Las Vegas sportsbook that runs the contest, posted an update on X after the Cowboys’ win.
“The Commanders gave it a go but came up just short,” Circa wrote. “The Cowboys come through for 5 very happy entries!”
The surviving entries will have to turn around and make a pick among the rest of the Week 17 games for Saturday through Monday night, then make another for Week 18.
If more than one entry survives to the end, they will split the $18.718 million.
This story was originally published December 25, 2025 at 4:29 PM.
