Circa Friday Football Invitational | September 11, 2026 | Hour 1

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SPEAKER_2 (1:13)

25 pro handicappers, $30,000 on the line. This is the Circa Friday Football Invitational, presented by Omaha Steaks on VSiN, the sports betting network. Here's your host, Matt Youmans.

Matt Youmans (1:30)

We're back. It's a football Friday night in Las Vegas. Welcome to the fifth annual Circa Friday Football Invitational. And Derek Stevens is in the studio with me to kick it off. We have 25 handicappers, $30,000 of Derek's money up for grabs. And we're going to be here for the next 20 Friday nights. And we have Omaha Steaks back as a sponsor this season. Derek, great to see you. And man, it's been a hectic week, hasn't it?

Derek Stevens (1:56)

It has been a hectic week. It's been a great week, but great to be back here. And Matt, congratulations. You got Omaha Steaks back. I was hopeful. I was hopeful on this. This is great news.

Matt Youmans (2:05)

Apparently, we have award winning Derek and Wilbo smashburgers here from Omaha Steaks. Do you recognize those?

Derek Stevens (2:11)

I certainly do. And they do look just delicious.

Matt Youmans (2:15)

Let's talk about the guarantees here at Circa Sports and the biggest football contest in the world. And Derek, the guarantees is keep climbing. Where are we at as we kick off the show here at 4 p.m. Pacific on a Friday?

Derek Stevens (2:28)

4 p.m. Pacific. So we have a great night ahead of us. We got a little bit a little bit of morning. Last minute, last minute people jumping in. But right now, in our three football contests, we have set an all time record in Circa Survivor.

We guarantee $20 million and we have now surpassed $23.8 million right now. Unbelievable.

Matt Youmans (2:53)

And the deadline is when?

Derek Stevens (2:55)

Two o'clock tomorrow. So yet last year, we had $18.7 million actual and we're at $23.8 now. So we're up $5 million in Circa Survivor. What a monster.

Matt Youmans (3:09)

That's great. What do you think you're gonna get to by the deadline tomorrow, $25?

Derek Stevens (3:13)

I don't know. I mean, it depends on how things shape up tonight. I don't know. I mean, we're gonna be gonna be somewhere in the 24s for sure. And then and then we'll kind of go from there. So pretty cool. And second contest are Circa Grandesimo. We've had six entries today, including a couple of walking guys just now.

We're 74 right now. So 7.4 million of Circa Grandesimo contestants. So I'm happy about that. And what I'm not happy about, though, is the OG contest, the official football handicapping contest, where you get the blue jacket and you get street cred forever.

5,500 people. So we have a $500,000 overlay right now.

Matt Youmans (3:58)

Well, there's a chance you'll get to 6 million by tomorrow. It's probably a stretch. It's going to fall a little bit short.

Derek Stevens (4:04)

I think we're going to fall a little short. We're going to leave some more EV out there for our great customers.

Matt Youmans (4:10)

You think about when you started these contests in 2020, correct?

Derek Stevens (4:16)

Yeah, 2019

Matt Youmans (4:19)

Let's see. Survivor was 2020

Nate Rempe (4:21)

Yes, Survivor was a year later.

Matt Youmans (4:23)

2019 Did you envision or did you dream at that point that these contests could get that big? I know you always dream big. Did you think it could get that big within, you know, six, seven years?

Derek Stevens (4:34)

Yeah, you dream big, but you know, you don't know what to dream. I mean, you know, did I ever think that we could get to a $5 million football contest?

I don't know. I mean, I love it, but I don't know if other people did. And then, you know, to throw in Survivor, which a lot of people were indifferent towards, boy, this thing is just taking off. I mean, this is well beyond anything you ever dreamed of. So it's cool.