August is known as the time for NFL preseason games, but it’s also known in Las Vegas as “Football Contest Signup Season.”
Registration for the biggest contests in town have been open for a couple of months, but a vast majority of entries (roughly 75 to 80 percent) over the next couple of weekends in August before the late rush over Labor Day Weekend and the week leading to NFL Week 1 (and the college contests that also wait until NFL opening weekend to start).
Circa Sports and the Westgate SuperBook have upcoming events to incentivize players to enter early so they’re not totally swamped at the last minute.
For the uninitiated, registration in Nevada football contests must be done in person at a brick-and-mortar casino. Plays must be submitted each week within that state’s borders, but out-of-state players can use a local proxy to submit picks as long as they sign up with them and authorize the proxy to put in their weekly plays. That’s what has helped these contests grow over the years.
Circa Sports, with its Circa Sports Million IV and Circa Survivor III (both with $6 million guaranteed prize pools, meaning they need 6,000 entries in each to meet those guarantees), have Contest Weekends sponsored by VSiN on Aug. 12-13, Aug. 19-20 and Aug. 26-27.
In addition to players signing up in the Circa sportsbooks (registration can also be done at Circa’s other downtown books at the Golden Gate and the D), the Friday nights will feature a cocktail party at BarCanada at the D, plus a meet-and-greet with Circa owner Derek Stevens and Mike Palm.
Circa also has a deal for those purchasing a “full house” of the maximum 3 Circa Sports Million entries and 6 Circa Survivor entries. You receive 3 nights at the D (with the opportunity to upgrade to Circa), plus daily admission to Stadium Swim at Circa. At the proxy appreciation lunch this year, I asked if Circa could provide a deal for those who don’t get the full house and they’re offering everyone else a casino rate at the D with any entry. Full details at CircaSports.com.
The Westgate Las Vegas is hosting its annual SuperContest Weekend on Saturday, Aug. 20. There is a $90 golf outing at Las Vegas Country Club across the street with an awards dinner, followed by the annual SuperRaffle for SuperContest entries and other prizes at 9 p.m. PT in the SuperBook. The Westgate also has a $45 special room rate that weekend. Full details on the SuperContest page at westgateresorts.com.
The accompanying chart has the pertinent details to compare all the big contests in Las Vegas – including the Ultimate Football Challenge at the Golden Nuggets, which uses both college and pro football games, and the College Pick’em at William Hill books, which is the only college-only contest in Las Vegas – along with the similar contests hosted by VSiN’s parent company, DraftKings, in states where it is licensed. As of this writing on Friday, Aug, 12, those states are New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Virginia, West Virginia, Michigan, Tennessee, Iowa Colorado, Arizona and Wyoming. There’s no rush on DK’s contests as players can register in their home states up until NFL’s opening Sunday on Sept. 11.
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