DraftKings March Madness Contest
Contents
How to Punch Your Ticket to DraftKing’s Tourney Mania Bracket Challenge
DraftKings is intensifying the level of insanity known as the craziness of March Madness. Since 2015, DraftKings has crowned a bracket champion in their exclusive NCAA Tournament bracket contest. Here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know to punch your ticket to this big dance.
Qualifying
It’s not ironic that there will be 64 qualifiers to get yourself a spot in the big dance. To qualify for the Tourney Mania Bracket Challenge, you only need to enter and win one of these qualifying contests. Each player can win up to four tickets into the final contest.
No one can directly buy their way into the final bracket. You must win one of the qualifiers. There are satellite qualifiers for as little as $2, opportunities to enter the contests that will award one of the final 64 spots.
Qualifier Entry Fees and Prizes
The entry fees for the qualifiers are different. Depending on the contest entry fee, the prize structure after first place changes. Every winner of a qualifier punches his ticket to the big event. Second place finishers and below will win a cash prize.
Each of the 64 spots earns a trip to the finals, and will be in line for a chunk of the $100,000 total prize pool. The top bracket will take home a check for $20,000. Every qualifier will win cash, with the final 32 finishes each winning $500.
Qualifier Lineups and Scoring
Each qualifier is set up as a college DFS play. From a player pool with every player from that day’s slate of NCAA men’s basketball games, you will build a lineup card. Each lineup must be constructed under the $50,000 salary cap.
You’ll put together a lineup with three guards, three forwards, and then a pair of utility players from any position. Each qualifier will use the DraftKings college basketball classic scoring format.
Standard fantasy points are earned for points, rebounds, assists and steals. Players lose a half-point for turnovers, plus double-doubles and triple-doubles earn bonuses. The lineup with the most fantasy points in each qualifier gets their ticket punched to DraftKing’s big dance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How is position eligibility determined for the lineups?
A: All positions are determined by DraftKing’s CBB staff.
Q: When do qualifying round lineups lock?
A: Game time is lock time for every player in the qualifying contests. You can edit players up until tip-off for their game.
Q: What games are used for the qualifying round lineups?
A: Players will come from what is called the game set. Every player who listed as eligible for his school can be used to construct your DK lineup.
DraftKings uses the famous bracket buster analogy of “don’t get left on the bubble”. That’s exactly the result of what making no attempt to get into the Tourney Mania Bracket Challenge will mean. If you don’t jump on the court and take part in a qualifier, you’ll invariably have your bubble burst.
