2026: the season ahead, modelled
Choose how many entries are funded and what each person puts in, then how the pot is shared. Everything below follows from those inputs.
The pot, shared
- Weekly Pick 'em prize$4,25744%
- Survival pool$241.872.5%
- Underdog pool$338.623.5%
- 1st place$2,660.6227.5%
- 2nd place$1,209.3712.5%
- 3rd place$483.755%
- 2nd-last place$483.755%
- Left by rounding$0.020%
The schedule (projected payouts)
In-season prizes first, then the year-end places. Every amount is modelled from the inputs above; none is a commitment. Shares are rounded down to the cent, and the cents that leaves over stay in the pot.
| Prize | Share | Count | Each | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly Pick 'em prize18 × $236.50 | 44% | 18 | $236.50 | $4,257 |
| Survival pool | 2.5% | 1 | $241.87 | $241.87 |
| Underdog pool | 3.5% | 1 | $338.62 | $338.62 |
| In-season total | $4,837.49 | |||
| 1st place | 27.5% | 1 | $2,660.62 | $2,660.62 |
| 2nd place | 12.5% | 1 | $1,209.37 | $1,209.37 |
| 3rd place | 5% | 1 | $483.75 | $483.75 |
| 2nd-last place | 5% | 1 | $483.75 | $483.75 |
| Year-end total | $4,837.49 | |||
| Total allocated | 100% | $9,674.98 | ||
| Left by rounding | $0.02 | |||
| The pot | 100% | $9,675 |
Across a range of rosters
The same shares with more or fewer funded entries. Every prize moves with the pot; nothing is ever short.
| Entries | Pot | Weekly prize | 1st place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | $8,775 | $214.50 | $2,413.12 |
| 41 | $9,225 | $225.50 | $2,536.87 |
| 43 | $9,675 | $236.50 | $2,660.62 |
| 45 | $10,125 | $247.50 | $2,784.37 |
| 47 | $10,575 | $258.50 | $2,908.12 |
Against 2014's fixed schedule
The one schedule a document states is 2014's: fixed amounts, and a year-end pot equal to the in-season total. Carried to 18 weeks it comes to $9,150, which takes 40.67 funded entries at $225 to cover. This pot of $9,675 covers it with $525 to spare.
| 2014's rule | Count | Each | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly Pick 'em prize | 18 | $225 | $4,050 |
| Survival pool | 1 | $225 | $225 |
| Underdog pool | 1 | $300 | $300 |
| In-season total | $4,575 | ||
| 1st place | 1 | $2,516.25 | $2,516.25 |
| 2nd place | 1 | $1,143.75 | $1,143.75 |
| 3rd place | 1 | $457.50 | $457.50 |
| 2nd-last place | 1 | $457.50 | $457.50 |
| Year-end pot | $4,575 | ||
| Total scheduled | $9,150 |
Past seasons at these inputs
| Season | Entries | Pot | 1st place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 36 | $8,100 | $2,227.50 |
| 2015 | 42 | $9,450 | $2,598.75 |
| 2017 | 47 | $10,575 | $2,908.12 |
| 2018 | 47 | $10,575 | $2,908.12 |
| 2019 | 45 | $10,125 | $2,784.37 |
| 2020 | 44 | $9,900 | $2,722.50 |
| 2021 | 45 | $10,125 | $2,784.37 |
| 2022 | 47 | $10,575 | $2,908.12 |
| 2023 | 49 | $11,025 | $3,031.87 |
| 2024 | 50 | $11,250 | $3,093.75 |
| 2025 | 43 | $9,675 | $2,660.62 |
| 2026 ahead | 43 | $9,675 | $2,660.62 |
A past season's entries are the handles that appeared in its standings, as if each had funded one entry at this amount. None of this is what any season collected; only 2014's workbook states a figure.
Assumptions
Every input, and how well it is supported. Sourced means a document or a first-hand account says so; Inferred means it is derived from one with the derivation stated; Assumed means nothing does.
| Input | Value | Support | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amount per person | $225 per entry | Assumed, at Chris's instruction | Held constant for every season at Chris's instruction. It is not a record of what any season charged. |
| One amount enters all three pools | Pick 'em, Survival and Underdog | Sourced | Chris's own account of how the pool has always worked. |
| Funded entries | 43 | Assumed | The 2025 roster as it appeared in the standings: 43 handles across the three pools. It is not a count of buy-ins received. |
| Weeks | 18 | Sourced | From the NFL schedule as mysportweb.com lists it. |
| How the pot is shared | 44 / 2.5 / 3.5% to the weekly, Survival and Underdog prizes; 27.5 / 12.5 / 5 / 5% to 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 2nd-last | Inferred | 2014's schedule expressed as shares of its own total, rounded to the half-percent. Nothing says any later season shared its pot this way. |
| 2014's fixed schedule, for comparison | $225 each week, $225 Survival, $300 Underdog, and a year-end pot equal to the in-season total split 55 / 25 / 10 / 10 | Assumed | Read off the 2014 workbook's formulas and carried forward only to compare. It is not the schedule above. |
| Operating cost | $0, taken off the pot before it is shared | Assumed, at Chris's instruction | None expected this year, at Chris's instruction. The 2014 workbook records between $150 and $170 under three headings; nothing later records any. |
Unresolved
- How many entries will be funded. The count above is a roster as it appeared in the standings, not a count of buy-ins received.
- Whether the 2014 structure continued after 2014: the weekly, Survival and Underdog amounts, the 55/25/10/10 split and the year-end pot rule are not documented for any later season.
- How a year-end tie is broken. The pool's options cover weekly ties only, and third place was tied in 2014 and again in 2019.
- Which buy-ins were waived against a prior prize, and when. No standings page records any of it.
- What running the pool costs. The 2014 workbook records between $150 and $170 under three headings; nothing later records any operating cost.
- Whether the pool stays on mysportweb.com.
Who appeared in recent seasons
| Season | Pick 'em | Survival | Underdog | Any pool | All three |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 36 | — | — | 36 | 36 |
| 2015 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 |
| 2017 | 47 | 47 | 47 | 47 | 47 |
| 2018 | 46 | 46 | 47 | 47 | 46 |
| 2019 | 45 | 45 | 45 | 45 | 45 |
| 2020 | 43 | 43 | 44 | 44 | 42 |
| 2021 | 45 | 44 | 44 | 45 | 44 |
| 2022 | 46 | 46 | 47 | 47 | 45 |
| 2023 | 48 | 49 | 49 | 49 | 48 |
| 2024 | 48 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 48 |
| 2025 | 40 | 41 | 41 | 43 | 39 |
Standings counts, not buy-ins received. A player can fund an entry and never appear, or appear without funding one.