Contest rules and scoring

A challenge locks a fixed number of games. Both crews vote on the same slate, and a crew's pick on each game is its majority vote at kickoff. If a crew never votes a game, that game scores nothing for them.

• Correct pick: 10 points
• Push (spread or total lands exactly): 5 points
• Wrong pick: 0 points

Results come from the same grading engine that settles crew picks, so a contest can never disagree with your Picks & Results page.

A pick that one member made shouldn't count the same as one the whole crew backed. Each game's points are multiplied by the share of the crew that voted it, with a floor of 50% so small crews and big crews stay comparable.

game points × max(0.5, voters ÷ crew size)

A 3-of-3 turnout on a winner scores the full 10. A 1-of-4 turnout on the same winner scores 10 × 0.5 = 5.

Higher total wins. If totals tie, the crew with more correct picks wins; if that ties too, the contest is recorded as a tie and neither rating moves. A matchup settles once every game on the slate is graded.

Every non-practice result updates an Elo-style crew rating: beating a higher-rated crew moves you more than beating a lower-rated one. Ratings seed brackets and drive the season leaderboard, which runs August through July.

Any challenge can be flagged as practice. Practice matchups are scored and displayed exactly the same, but they are excluded from:

• crew ratings
• season standings and the leaderboard
• rivalry records and streaks
• bracket advancement

Practice matchups always carry a "Practice" badge.

A bracket covers one league on one game day, and every round is a time slot. College runs four slots — morning, afternoon, evening, late night — with 16 crews. NFL runs two halves of the day, the kickoff half through Sunday's 1:00 window and the nightcap from 4:00 on, with 4 crews. The NFL schedule doesn't have five games in the late or primetime windows, so two rounds is the honest shape.

Crews are capped at 12 members, in brackets and everywhere else.

• Each round is exactly 5 picks, and every pick must be a game in that league that kicks off inside that slot.
• Picks are due before the slot's first kickoff. A crew that misses the window forfeits that round.
• A round can't settle until the slot's last game ends, so you won't know if you advanced until the slot is done.
• Round winner: most correct picks, then ROI, then total points.
• Still level? Each round has one marquee game — the slot's last kickoff. Any member can call its combined final score, and the crew's number is the average of everyone who called it. Closest to the real total advances; the other crew's number stays hidden until kickoff. If nobody in a crew entered, the crew that did advances.
• Level even on that? One nominated member per crew plays a duel. The better seed picks coin flip or rock paper scissors, the other crew calls first, and the result comes from a secret whose fingerprint is published before either choice — so both crews can verify it after. Ignore the duel for 30 minutes and the crew that showed up advances. Nothing can stall a bracket.

The field is seeded by crew rating when the organizer starts it, and a champion is crowned the same night.

Contest units are capped and separate from whatever you staked on the board. Every entry in a round gets the same budget: 2 units per pick, so a 5-pick round is 10 units.

• Minimum 1 unit per pick — no throwaway legs.
• Maximum 4 units on any single pick, and never more than 40% of the round budget.
• You must spend the full budget to submit. Leaning on a game costs you units somewhere else.
• ROI is profit per unit risked against that shared budget, so it measures allocation, not who bet bigger.

If a game grades late or a source corrects a result, a matchup can be re-scored or voided by platform staff. Every correction is written to an audit log with the before and after state, and both crews are notified.

Three prize ladders run in parallel — weekly, monthly, and season-long. Every settled contest scores into whichever ladders are live on the day it settles, using the same 3 points for a win and 1 for a tie described above. Practice matchups and Going Rogue entries are excluded.

When a period closes, the crew at the top of that ladder wins the posted prize. Ties are broken by total points scored across the period, then by whichever crew played its first contest of the period earlier. Current standings and prizes are on the prize board.

Going Rogue is the solo lane: one player, no crew. Scoring is identical — 10 points for a correct pick, 5 for a push, 0 for a miss — but there is no turnout weighting, since there is only ever one voter on the slate.

Rogues are only ever matched against other rogues, never against a crew, and Going Rogue keeps its own standings separate from the crew board.

No purchase necessary. No subscription necessary. A purchase or subscription does not improve your chances of winning. Entry into every BetCrews contest and prize ladder is free to all registered users, including users on the free tier. BetCrews does not collect entry fees and does not pool funds from participants. All prizes are furnished by BetCrews, the sponsor.

Eligibility. Open to legal residents of the United States who are 21 years of age or older at the time of entry. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Employees of BetCrews and their immediate families are not eligible.

How to enter. Create or join a crew, then play a crew-vs-crew contest during an open prize period. That is the only entry method, and it is free.

Prizes and odds. The prize for each period, along with its approximate retail value, is posted on the prize board before the period opens. Where a prize is a trip or other non-cash award, a cash alternative of the stated value is available to any winner who cannot or does not wish to accept it. Odds of winning depend on the number of crews scoring in that period, which is shown live on the prize board. Prizes are non-transferable. Winners are responsible for all applicable taxes and will receive an IRS Form 1099 where required.

Winner notification and claims. Winning crews are notified in-app and by email within seven days of a period closing, and must claim the prize within thirty days. The crew admin claims on the crew's behalf. Unclaimed prizes may be awarded to the next crew in the standings.

Sponsor. BetCrews. For a winners list or a copy of these rules, contact us through the support link in the footer.