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Survivor / Eliminator Pool

Pick one team a week. Last one standing wins.

Each week, every entry picks one team to win — lose and you’re out, and you can’t reuse a team. The last entry alive takes the pot. Runs for the NFL or any sport in the games library.

Start this contest →How it works

Great for:NFL season poolsBooster fundraisersOffice & friend groupsAny sport with a schedule

Set it up

Pick your sport/league, entry fee, strikes, and deadline. The season’s weeks are created for you.

Build the schedule

Pull each week’s games straight from the games library, or add them by hand.

Pick & survive

Entries pick one team a week. Enter results and the platform eliminates the losers automatically.

Everything you can customize

Features, options & plans

Tune every detail to fit your fundraiser — and see exactly what’s on each plan.

Feature

Options

Kickoff

Free

★ POPULAR

Varsity

$12.95

Champion

$29.95

Setup

Any sport / leagueBuild the schedule from your games library — NFL, college, NBA, MLB & more✓✓✓

Entry fee + your cutSet the buy-in and how much the program keeps; the rest is the pot✓✓✓

Season lengthStart week and number of weeks — full season or a late-start “second chance” pool✓✓✓

Pick deadlineLock at the first game of the week, or each pick at its own kickoff✓✓✓

Rules & formats

One team per week, no reuseThe core survivor rule — used teams grey out automatically✓✓✓

Ties eliminate (or survive)Your call on how a tie is scored✓✓✓

Strikes / extra livesAllow 2–3 misses before elimination—✓✓

Multiple entries per personLet supporters buy more than one entry—✓✓

MulligansGive each entry a free miss—✓✓

Buyback / re-entryEliminated entries can buy back in (escalating fee)——✓

Double-pick & holiday weeksRequire two correct picks on selected weeks——✓

Advanced prizes & tiebreakersTop-N payouts, consolation, fewest-strikes/wins, keep-playing——✓

Run it on autopilot

Import the weekly schedulePull games from the library by date — any sport✓✓✓

Enter results → auto-eliminateScore a week and strikes/eliminations apply for you✓✓✓

Auto-score from the games libraryResults and eliminations update from synced scoressoonsoonsoon

Live standingsEveryone sees who’s alive, who’s out, and strikes✓✓✓

Live team records on the pick screenEach team’s W-L shows right on the pick boxes✓✓✓

Money & selling

Keep 100% of the potSupporters pay you directly via Venmo, PayPal, check or cash✓✓✓

One-tap Venmo/PayPalEntrants tap one button — amount prefilled — and you mark each entry paid✓✓✓

Pay now or pay laterOptionally let entrants join now and pay later✓✓✓

Seller links & attributionEach seller’s entries are credited to them—✓✓

Custom branding & public listingLogo, colors, banner; list publicly or keep it invite-only—✓✓

＋ Add-on = available as a paid add-on on that plan, included free on Champion. See full pricing →

Games library

Pick your game — we bring the teams

On Varsity & up, choose your matchup from our synced library — team names, logos, and start times come pre-loaded. Leagues we integrate:

🏈 Football

NFLNCAA D1

🏀 Basketball

NBANCAA D1

⚾ Baseball

MLBNCAA D1

More leagues added regularly. On any plan you can always type in team names yourself.

The complete guide

How a Survivor / Eliminator Pool works

A survivor pool (or eliminator) is the most nerve-racking pool in sports: pick one team to win each week, never reuse a team, and one loss knocks you out. The last entry standing takes the pot. Here’s how it works, the variations, strategy, and how to run one.

What is a survivor pool?

Each week you pick exactly one team you think will win — that’s it. If your team wins, you survive to next week; if it loses, you’re out. The catch: you can’t pick the same team twice all season, so you have to spend your best teams wisely. The last entry left standing wins.

How a season plays out

Each week you pick one winner from a team you haven’t used yet:

Week	Your pick	Result
Week 1	Chiefs	✅ Survive
Week 2	Eagles	✅ Survive
Week 3	Ravens	❌ Eliminated
Week 4	—	Out (unless buy-back is on)

Pick the Chiefs in Week 1 and you can’t use them again all season — so saving a strong team for a tougher week is part of the game.

Common variations

Strikes (lives): give everyone 1–3 strikes so one bad week doesn’t end their season.
Second chance / buy-back: let eliminated players re-enter (often through a set week) for another fee.
Mulligans: a limited number of “forgiven” losses.
Double-pick weeks: require two surviving picks in a week to thin the field late.
No-pick handling: auto-eliminate, or assign the lowest-favored team.

Tiebreakers & deadlines

If several entries survive to the end — or everyone loses in the same week — pools either split the pot or break ties by a rule you set. Picks lock at the start of each week’s games (or per game), and missed picks are handled by your chosen rule, all automatically.

Run your own survivor pool

Set the rules, share one link, and let eliminations and standings run themselves.

✅ Auto-eliminations from results✅ Strikes, buy-backs & mulligans✅ Live who’s-still-alive standings

Start free →

Survivor strategy

Don’t burn your best team in Week 1 — save big favorites for weeks when the slate is thin.
Look ahead three or four weeks so you’re not stuck with only bad options late.
Take the safest favorite, not the biggest one — survival is about avoiding losses, not running up margin.
With strikes in play you can take a calculated early risk; in a single-life pool, play it safe.

Running it the easy way

ChooseASquare loads the season from the games library, tracks used teams per entry, eliminates automatically as results post, and keeps a live standings of who’s still alive. Players pick from their phone on one link. Want weekly scoring instead of elimination? See Pick’Em or a Confidence Pool.

FAQ

Survivor / Eliminator Pool, answered

How does a survivor pool work?

Each week every entry picks one team to win straight-up. Pick a winner and you advance; pick a loser and you’re eliminated. You can’t use the same team twice all season, and the last entry (or entries) still alive at the end splits the pot.

Can I run it for sports other than the NFL?

Yes. The pool is sport-agnostic — build each week’s schedule from any league in your games library (college football, NBA, MLB, and more), or add games by hand.

What happens with ties, or if I miss a pick?

You choose whether a tie eliminates or survives. A missed pick eliminates by default (or you can set it to no penalty). Mulligans and strikes — on paid plans — give entries some forgiveness.

Can people have more than one entry?

On Varsity and up, yes — set how many entries each person can buy. The free plan is one entry per person.

Is it free, and how do payouts work?

You can run a survivor pool on the free Kickoff plan and keep 100% of the pot. Supporters pay you directly; the platform never holds the money or takes a cut. Set your cut, and the rest goes to the last entry standing.

Which features need a paid plan?

The pool itself is free. Strikes, multiple entries, and mulligans are Varsity+. Buyback, double-pick weeks, auto-scoring, and advanced prizes/tiebreakers are on Champion.