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The Mastiff Tournament Rules
Underdog contests are governed by our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and the rules listed below. For AZ users, please refer to our Terms of Use here.
Entrants into Underdog contests compete to accumulate points based on athletes’ statistical performance in sporting events. Contest results are determined by the total points accumulated by each individual lineup entry according to the relevant scoring rules.
General Contest Information
Entrants select players through a snake draft. In a snake draft, the pick order is reversed each round. In other words, the entrant with the first pick in round 1, will have the last pick in round 2 and the first pick in round 3.
Entrants are required to pay an entry fee of $1,000 per entry to enter The Mastiff (the "Tournament").
Entry to the Tournament will be closed prior to the 1st game of the 2026 season. This means that the Tournament closure time would move if the timing of the first game were to change for any reason.
Entrants draft a team of players who accumulate points throughout the duration of the contest period.
Once entrants draft, their rosters are set—there are no waivers, substitutions, or trades during the contest period.
At the end of each NFL week, Underdog automatically selects the entrant's highest scoring players at the designated positions to be "starters" and only those players' statistics over that week are counted toward the entrant's accumulated score. This means entrants do not need to set their lineups.
Entrants compete in groups ("Groups") over the course of multiple rounds ("Rounds").
The Tournament will have 4 rounds, with each round consisting of player groups as seen below:
Round 1 - 12 person groups
Round 2 - 5 person groups
Round 3 - 4 person groups
Round 4 - 9 person final group
The Tournament will consist of 540 total entries and in the first round, a total of 45 12-person Groups.
At the end of Round 1, the top four (4) performing entries in each Group will advance to Round 2 and be awarded a prize (as described below). Round 2 will consist of 180 entries in 36 5-person Groups.
At the end of Round 2, the top one (1) performing entry from each Group will advance to Round 3 and be awarded a prize (as described below). Round 3 will consist of 36 entries in 9 4-person Groups.
At the end of Round 3, the top one (1) performing entry from each Group will advance to Round 4 and be awarded a prize (as described below). Round 4 will consist of 9 entries in a single 9-person Group.
At the end of Round 4, the top one (1) performing entry from the Group will be the Grand Prize winner and prizes will be awarded to all entries in Round 4 (as described below).
Rounds
Round 1 - NFL Weeks 1 - 14
Round 2 - NFL Week 15
Round 3 - NFL Week 16
Round 4 - NFL Week 17
In the event of season postponement, any missed weeks will lead to a shortening of Round 1.
Roster Makeup
The roster makeup and scoring will follow the details below:
Roster
Roster Position | Position Number |
QB | 1 |
RB | 2 |
WR | 3 |
TE | 1 |
Flex | 1 |
Bench | 10 |
Prize Pool
Note that at Underdog's discretion, Underdog could pay out partial prizes upon advancement that eventually will equal the total prizes per user, as seen below.
1st | $100,000 |
2nd | $50,000 |
3rd | $40,000 |
4th | $30,000 |
5th | $25,000 |
6th | $23,500 |
7th | $20,000 |
8th | $15,000 |
9th | $12,000 |
10th- 36th | $1,500 |
37-180th | $1,000 |
Scoring
Underdog uses official league statistics provided by reputable partners and only includes statistics from sporting events the relevant league deems to be official.
We endeavor to promptly settle contests and distribute prizes, but it is also important to us to make sure we do so accurately. On a weekly basis, final scores will be confirmed within 72 hours after the final game of the week is played. Following each specified contest round, entries will be advanced within 72 hours after the final game for that NFL Week is played. Once entries are advanced, scores will be considered final and no changes will be made. Normally, any scoring changes or stat corrections provided by our partners after a contest has ended and Underdog has settled the contest will not impact the already-settled contest. However, Underdog reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to revise scores after they are released in the unlikely event of potential scoring error by a provider or Underdog. In those circumstances, the contest results may be altered, payments may be reversed, and redone based on the correction.
If a league declares a game "postponed" or "suspended", then the statistics generated in the sporting event before that point will count toward the contest. Any statistics generated when the sporting event takes place or resumes will count only if it occurs before the relevant contest period or Round closes.