The Football Contest Show | September 12, 2026

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

This is VSiN, the SportsBetting Network. This is the Football Contest Show on VSiN, the SportsBetting Network.

Matt Brown (0:20)

It is the 2026 version of the contest show here on VSiN, Matt Brown, alongside Derek Stevens, Jeff Benson again, back on the saddle, guys. Cannot wait to get to what we will get to. Hey, we're glad you're here. You're gonna wait 15 more minutes. You're gonna find out the survivor number. You're gonna find out the grandismo number in the next segment. We're gonna sit here and talk a little bit of Circa Million to get things going. But guys, just before we get going on any of this stuff, amazing to be back here. Amazing to see the buzz in the sports book that we've seen here over the last month. And amazing to see these numbers continue to climb.

Jeff Benson (0:54)

Yeah, I mean, obviously it was a wild day. I was here early in the morning and all the way up till 2 o'clock signups finished. And the contest apps just continued and it was just nonstop. So I think we really saw a pretty big rush Friday and Saturday. We were a little bit more busy those two days this year versus last year when Wednesday and Thursday were our biggest days. But an incredible finish to what has been a great signup season. Really excited to obviously go over the final entry count numbers here.

You know, and a total testament to the team, you know. I think we had so many people that came out, wanted to be a part of, you know, what Derek and the rest of our team is building here at Circus Sports. And just the response, you know, for all of these contests, as we continue to grow them year in and year out, you know, it's really scaled to a level we maybe never thought we could get to. So very similar to, you know, the growth of the World Series of Poker and the Money Maker Boom and all that, you know, we've really seen that here with contests. And, you know, I think a lot of that, you know, you got to thank the guy to my left. You know, he, we guaranteed $30 million this year. And obviously, we're going to reveal where we landed. But, you know, he put all of his money behind that. And, you know, it was really great just to see people show up, buy into that. And, you know, we're really excited for what's going to be a fantastic football season.

Matt Brown (2:14)

Derek, what I've seen just over the last month of being around and hanging out with you, I've personally seen you probably shake a thousand hands.

Jeff Benson (2:20)

What are you having?

Matt Brown (2:20)

How many hands have you shaken here in the last month, man?

Derek Stevens (2:23)

Yeah, it might be a record, but it's been a lot of fun. I, you know, I really have to have to thank our team led by Jeff Benson, Mike Palm, our whole crew, the people in the risk room, the customer support, the writers. Really unbelievable. This was just a machine.

I guess we'll reveal some of this stuff on the show that, you know, we'll reveal some of the docu-series next season, but I just couldn't believe what it was like here in the last three, four days. And this morning, we actually all got in pretty early.

But Cam Ross was here before me, Jeff was here before Cam, and this was just, I don't want to say Bedlam. This was a well-oiled machine. I just could not believe the volume. The volume of signups we did today was stunning. And today was also interesting. I sent you a text with about two hours to go. The number of single entries in all the contests. I don't think I've ever seen the number of $1,000 entries. Obviously, you get a lot of the 10 and 10, all that stuff. But just the volume of people that I think decided to jump in at the very last minute, I mean, it was hectic till, I think the last set of five went in at what, 45 seconds to go, it was unbelievable.

Jeff Benson (3:51)

We were processing them right up to the 2 o'clock deadline. So, without further ado, obviously, the contest that's not as popular as Circus Survivor, but the contest that we opened with year one in 2019 when we launched the Circus Sports Million, back for year number eight, we guaranteed $6 million in that contest and we got a total entry count of 5,790.

So, for all of the players in that contest, they have a nice $210,000 overlay. It's the first and last time I'll remind Derek that that's coming out of his pocket. But yeah, excited for that contest as well. Five picks against the spread every week. When we think about the quarterly prizes that are really exciting as well, four quarters in quarter one, five quarters, five weeks in quarter two, four weeks in quarter three, five weeks in quarter four. That's how the segments go for this year.