If you thought Week 1 of Circa Survivor and Circa Grandissimo was bad, let me introduce you to Week 2. A total of 25,017 entries put up the $1,000 to enter Survivor and 77 entries put up the $100,000 to enter the high-stakes Grandissimo in its sophomore season.
It took fewer than 32 games of the 2026 NFL season to be played before there was complete carnage in both contests. It started in Week 1 when the Chargers’ loss to the Cardinals resulted in the elimination of 7,585 entries in Circa Survivor and 28 in Circa Grandissimo. Fortunately, those were the only 28 to go down in the high-stakes contest, but a total of 8,039 were knocked out of the regular Survivor, leaving behind 16,978.
Those who avoided the Chargers in Week 1 breathed a heavy sigh of relief and really liked their chances heading into Week 2 with multiple big favorites in play. Well, if you’ve ever subscribed to the “there’s no such thing as a lock” philosophy of betting, you’ve sure as hell been validated this week.
To add salt to what was already a gradually-growing wound, a weather delay put Buccaneers backers on ice against the Browns for over two hours, with the game hanging in the balance at the two-minute warning and Cleveland holding a shocking 23-19 lead. In the end, that would be the final score, wiping out 6,061 entries in Circa Survivor and 14 in Circa Grandissimo.
Earlier in the day, the Ravens had already wiped out about 5% of the Survivor field and over 8% of the Grandissimo field with their loss to the Saints. That took out 835 in the main contest and four entries in the high-stakes contest.
To put a cherry on top of the day, the Chargers lost outright the Raiders, once again costing Survivor backers in a big way. Those who were willing to overlook LA’s Week 1 transgressions paid for it in Week 2 in the 26-14 loss. Another 8% of the Circa Survivor field fell with that result, while the 6,741 entries that backed the 49ers felt very, very good about their decision.
There were also 42 entries that wound up not submitting a pick, which is probably the worst beat of all, but an avoidable mistake.
As mentioned, we started with 25,017 entries in Circa Survivor for a total of $25,017,000 in the prize pool. We’re not even through Week 2 yet and down to 8,607 entries remaining, just 34.4% of the starting field. Or, to put it another way, there is $16.41 million worth of dead money in the prize pool.
At time of writing, Sunday Night Football was not yet completed and there were 241 more entries on the Chiefs against the Colts. Nobody selected the Colts.
In Circa Grandissimo, the losses for the Bucs, Ravens, and Chargers wiped out 19 of the remaining 49 entries. One has the Rams on Monday Night Football. With 77 entries at $100k a pop, that’s $7.7 million in the prize pool and only 39% of the field remains.
