$1,000,000 College Basketball Mayhem Contest 2026
OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A
PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF
WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
Promotional Period:
• Beginning at 12:00 AM EDT on Feb 17th, 2026, you may pre-register and
establish a player profile in the the $1,000,000 College Basketball Mayhem
Contest (“Promotion”).
• Beginning at 8:00 PM EDT on March 15th, 2026, until up to 15 minutes
before the first First Round game on March 19th, 2026 (“The Registration
Period”), you may log in to your established user profile and choose your
preferred winning teams from the teams that are announced as participating
in the 2026 Men’s College Basketball Tournament. The $1,000,000 College
Basketball Mayhem Contest (“Promotion”) is sponsored by Audience, LLC
(“Main Sponsor”). The Grand Prize Contest is scheduled to occur between
March 19th, 2026 and April 6th, 2026 during the designated 2026 Men’s
College Basketball Tournament.
• Designated Tournament: 2026 Men’s College Basketball Tournament being
played from March 19th, 2026 to April 6th, 2026
Entry Method: During the Pre-Registration and Registration period
(2/17/26 to up to 15 minutes before the first First Round game on March
20th, 2026), you may enter once total by visiting the website of the
Participating Station or Sponsor and following the instructions to enter.
Each entrant must fully complete the online entry form with all required
information, including your name, zip code, valid email address and
phone number, including area code. Each registrant will designate their
own username (email address) and password. The designated ‘Screen
Name’ will be the first name and last name and will be displayed on the
‘Leaders’ and ‘Picks’ section during the contest. Each registrant’s
username (email address) & password will allow participants to return to
the contest site to Log-in and view their prediction, points, and
standings.
Entrants must provide truthful information when entering the Promotion;
the Promotion Entities may reject and delete any entry found to be false
or fraudulent, as determined by the Promotion Entities.
Entrants must submit all information required on the entry form, which
may include first and last name, telephone number, email address, home
address, and/or date of birth. Entries will be deemed made by the
authorized account holder of the email address submitted at the time of
entry. The authorized account holder is the natural person who is
assigned to the email address by an Internet access provider, online
service provider or other organization that is responsible for assigning
the email address or the domain associated with the submitted email
address. Multiple entrants are not permitted to share the same email
address. Entries submitted will not be acknowledged or returned. Use
of any device to automate entry is prohibited. Proof of submission of an
entry shall not be deemed proof of receipt.
All entry information may be shared with the sponsors described in the
attached list, and entrants may be contacted with promotional or
marketing materials with the option to opt out.
This Promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or
associated with the NCAA, any participating colleges or universities,
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media platform. By
submission of an entry, you release Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and
any other social media platform from any responsibility or liability
related to the Promotions. You are providing entry information to one or
more of the Promotion Entities and not to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
or any other social media platform.
Promotion Entities are not responsible for technical outages, delays, or
malfunctions of any kind, including those related to the Internet, cell
phone service, or computer failures. Accordingly, Promotion Entities
are not responsible for errors or data loss of any kind, lost or unavailable
Internet connections, failed, incomplete, garbled or deleted computer or
network transmissions, inability to access any website or online service,
any other error or malfunction, late, lost, illegible or misdirected entries,
or for printing errors in any advertisement, entry form or rules.
Entry materials that have been tampered with or altered are void. If the
Promotion Entities determine, in their sole discretion, that there is any
suspected or actual electronic tampering with the Promotion or if
technical difficulties compromise the integrity of the Promotion, the
Promotion Entities reserve the right to void the entries at issue and/or
modify, suspend or terminate the Promotion. If, for any reason, the
Promotion is not capable of running as planned, including because of
tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any
other causes beyond the control of the Promotion Entities which corrupt
or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper
conduct of the Promotion, Promotion Entities reserve the right to
modify, suspend or terminate the Promotion.
Any attempt by an entrant or any person to deliberately damage any
website or social networking site used in the Promotion or to undermine
the legitimate operation of this Promotion may be a violation of criminal
and civil laws. Should such an attempt be made, Audience reserves the
right to seek full prosecution and/or damages from any such individual
to the fullest extent permitted by law. Audience’s failure to enforce any
term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that
provision.
“3-in-1” Bracket Participation: Promotion entities may elect to
participate in the “3-in-1” Bracket. The “3-in-1” Bracket additions
pertain only to the 16 team and semifinal rounds of the 2026 College
Basketball Tournament. The 16 team round and semifinal round
additions stand alone and there are no national prizes provided by
Audience. When the teams participating in the 16 team and semifinal
rounds are decided, entrants can return to their original bracket setup and
make fresh bracket picks for the rounds of 16 and 4, individually. All
scoring, tiebreaker, legal and policy rules that apply to the main 64 team
bracket also apply to the standalone Rounds of 16 and 4.
Eligibility: The Promotion is open to all legal residents of the U.S. 21
years of age or older, except employees of Audience, Participating
Stations and other Sponsors (collectively, the “Promotion Entities”),
other television or radio stations located in the same market as a
Participating Station, and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates,
advertising or promotion partners (if any), and members of their
immediate families or persons living in the same household. This
Promotion is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and
regulations. Void outside the United States and where prohibited.
Entrants who do not meet the eligibility requirements will be
disqualified and unable to win.
• Eligible Entries: Only the entries received from contestants who have
successfully completed the bracket prediction entry by the deadline of up to
15 minutes before the tipoff of the first First Round game on 3/19/26 will be
eligible to participate in the grand prize contest. Any additional entries that
have been received after the deadline are ineligible to participate or win any
prize, regardless of the accuracy of their submitted bracket prediction.
• Bracket Prediction: Bracket predictions must be completed and submitted
between March 15th, 2026 following team selection announcements for the
designated Men’s College Basketball Tournament and up to 15 minutes
before tipoff of the first First Round game on March 19th, 2026.
• Play-In Games: The play-in games played March 17-18, 2026 are considered
byes, and not part of this promotion’s prediction challenge.
• Once the designated 2026 Men’s College Basketball Tournament team
selections have been announced on March 15th, 2026, all registered or
newly registering participants must fully complete the provided Bracket
Prediction form on the Edit/Update Picks page of the contest website.
• All picks are saved automatically and can be changed and modified until
brackets close up to 15 minutes before tipoff of the first First Round game
on March 19, 2026.
• Completed bracket prediction entries must be received by up to 15 minutes
before tipoff of the first First Round game on March 19th, 2026 in order to
be eligible to participate or claim any prize. Any registered participant or
contestant who fails to fully or correctly complete the on-line registration
form, or fully and correctly complete the required Bracket Prediction for all
games in the designated tournament, and save their picks, will be
disqualified from the contest and will be ineligible to claim any prize.
• Each entrant may enter this promotion a total of one time.
Any bracket prediction not received by the required deadline for any
reason including, but not limited to transmission error, internet
problems, equipment or website malfunction, internet traffic or errors
caused by viruses or hackers will be disqualified. Main Sponsor is not
responsible for any delays or difficulty in receipt of an eligible
contestant’s Bracket Prediction that prevents participation.
Any incomplete or illegible entries will be disqualified. Released Parties
are not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, illegible, incomplete,
invalid, unintelligible, damaged, or for entries submitted in a manner
that is not expressly allowed under these rules, or for any entry not
submitted or received due to any technical error or failure, unauthorized
human intervention, inaccurate capture or mis-entry of any required
information, or the failure to capture any such information or effects of
hackers or failure of any electronic equipment, computer or cellular
transmissions and/or network connections; all of which will be
disqualified.
Each participant must submit an entry on his/her own behalf. Any entry
submitted on behalf of another individual or using another person’s
email address or name will be disqualified and ineligible to claim any
prize. No mechanically reproduced or automated entries permitted. Use
of any automated system to participate is prohibited and will result in
disqualification and all such entries will be deemed void.
In conjunction with this national Promotion, a Participating Station or
Sponsor may be conducting its own contest or sweepstakes for a chance
to win a local prize. For more information and official rules, visit the
website of the Participating Station or Sponsor. Audience is not
responsible for the conduct or administration of any such local contest/
sweepstakes, including without limitation procuring and awarding a
local prize.
Prizes and Odds of Winning:
• The grand prize of $1 million dollars will only be awarded to one verified
end user entrant that, prior to the tip off of the first First Round game,
submits a qualified entry into this contest that successfully predicts the
winning team of every game in the 2026 NCAA Men’s College Basketball
Championship Tournament held between March 19th, 2026 and April 6th,
2026. A maximum of one (1) grand prize will be awarded. In the event of
multiple winning entries, then the cash value of the grand prize will be
evenly distributed among eligible winning contestants. If no eligible
contestant successfully completes the grand prize-winning requirements,
then the grand prize will not be awarded.
• The odds of picking a perfect bracket are approximately 1 in
9,223,372,036,854,775,808, or 9.2 quintillion. Source: NCAA.com
• Prizes cannot be transferred or substituted except in Audience’s sole
discretion. Audience reserves the right to substitute the prize with a prize of
comparable or greater value (as determined by Audience in its sole
discretion).
• By accepting a prize, winner agrees to release Audience and its advertising,
promotion and production agencies and their respective parents and
subsidiaries, shareholders, directors, employees, agents and representatives
from any and all liability, claims or actions of any kind whatsoever for
injuries, damages or losses to persons and property which may be sustained
directly or indirectly in connection with the receipt, ownership or use of the
prize.
Scoring:
• If any eligible contestant correctly predicts the winners of all 63 games in
the designated Men’s College Basketball Tournament, they will be eligible
to claim the grand prize of $1,000,000 subject to verification of compliance
with these official rules.
• All other costs and expenses related to prize acceptance and use not
specified herein as being provided are the sole responsibility of Grand Prize
winner. All income, federal, state and local taxes are Grand Prize or Bonus
Prize winner’s sole responsibility. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a
prize of comparable or greater value, at its sole discretion.
• Failure to collect or properly claim any prize in accordance with these rules
will result in forfeiture of the prize. If forfeited for any reason, finalist will
not receive any other prize substitution or compensation, and the prize will
remain the property of Sponsor and will not be awarded, except as provided
herein. All other expenses not specified herein as being included are the sole
responsibility of the winner. Prize awards are non-transferable, and no cash
redemption or prize substitution allowed, except at Sponsor’s sole discretion
or as provided herein.
• Bracket Points: Each eligible Entrant who has successfully completed the
online registration and bracket as required by these Official Rules will
receive the following points for each of the sixty-three (63) games for which
they have correctly determined the winning team:
•
• i. One (1) point for each correct pick in Round 1
• ii. Two (2) points for each correct pick in Round 2
• iii. Four (4) points for each correct pick in Round 3
• iv. Eight (8) points for each correct pick in Round 4
• v. Sixteen (16) points for each correct pick in Round 5
• vi. Thirty-two (32) points for the correct Champion
• Any incorrect entries will receive zero (0) points. The maximum point total
for correctly determining the winning team in every game played during the
Designated Tournament is one hundred ninety-two (192) points. At the
completion of the designated tournament, each eligible Entrant’s bracket
entry received will be compared to the actual bracket outcome.
• Tie Breaking Procedures:
• Bracket Winner: In the event of a tie among any point leaders in the Bracket
prediction, the tiebreakers to determine the ‘Bracket Winner’ for the Local
Sweepstakes prize shall be as follows (tie breaker procedures shall not apply
for the $1,000,000 Grand Prize – see below):
• Each player will choose a score for a designated matchup, the “Tiebreaker
Matchup”. The absolute value of the difference between the chosen and
actual score for tiebreaker team #1 is added to the absolute value of the
difference between the chosen and actual score for tiebreaker team #2, then
this value will be subtracted from the possible baseline tiebreaker points of
one hundred (100). If player leaves either tiebreaker team blank the player
will automatically receive zero (0) tiebreaker points. The player’s tiebreaker
points will be a separate score and will only be used in the case of a tie. In
which case the player with the highest tiebreaker points will be the winner. If
a tie still exists after using the tiebreaker formula then a random winner will
be chosen from the pool of tied players.
• In order for the $1,000,000 Grand Prize to be awarded, an eligible Entrant
must correctly predict all sixty-three (63) games in the designated Men’s
College Basketball Tournament. If no eligible Entrants correctly predict the
winning teams in all sixty-three (63) NCAA Championship tournament
games, then the $1,000,000 Grand Prize will not be awarded.
Winner Selection and Notification:
• If there is a winner, they will be contacted by Audience at the phone number
or email provided at the time of entry. Audience is not responsible for any
prize that cannot be awarded due to acts of God, acts of war, natural
disasters, weather, acts of terrorism or other factors beyond Audience’s
control.
• Prior to awarding a prize, Audience in its sole discretion may require
verification of winner’s identification by a showing of valid governmentissued photo ID.
• Decisions of Audience with respect to winner selection and the awarding of
prizes are final and binding when made.
General
• Payments of all federal, state and local taxes are solely the responsibility of
winner. Winner must execute and return any required IRS form (including
IRS form 1099), affidavit of eligibility, liability and publicity release (where
permitted by law), or similar document within ten (10) days of notification
or winner may be disqualified in Audience’s sole discretion and the prize
will be forfeited.
• Any entrant who provides a mobile wireless number in connection with the
Promotion, including by providing a mobile number for winner notification
purposes, is responsible for informing the Promotion Entities if his or her
number is reassigned to another person at any time before the end of the
Promotion and for providing an alternative number where he or she may be
reached.
• Participating in the Promotion and accepting a prize constitutes the winner’s
permission for Audience or its agents to photograph, film, and record winner,
and to use his/her name, address (city and state), likeness, photograph, voice,
biographical information and/or any statements made by him/her regarding
the Promotion or its sponsors for purposes of trade, publicity or promotion
without additional financial or other compensation, and, Audience may,
where legal, require a winner to sign a publicity release confirming such
consent prior to acceptance of the prize.
• To the fullest extent permitted by law, by participating in the Promotion and/
or accepting a prize, you understand and agree:
• to release and hold harmless Promotion Entities, and each of their
respective parent, subsidiary and affiliated entities, advertising and
promotion agencies, any social media platform utilized in the conduct
of the Promotion (including but not limited to Facebook), and the
officers, shareholders, directors, employees, agents, representatives,
successors, and assigns of each (collectively, the “Released Parties”)
against any and all claims or liability arising directly or indirectly
from the Prize or the Promotion. You further understand and agree
that all rights under Section 1542 of the Civil Code of California
(“Section 1542”) and any similar law of any state or territory of the
United States that may be applicable with respect to the foregoing
release are hereby expressly and forever waived. You acknowledge
that Section 1542 provides that: “A GENERAL RELEASE DOES
NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT
KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS OR HER FAVOR AT THE
TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH, IF KNOWN BY
HIM OR HER MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS OR
HER SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR.” The releases hereunder
are intended to apply to all claims not known or suspected to exist
with the intent of waiving the effect of laws requiring the intent to
release future unknown claims.
• that the Federal Arbitration Act applies to this agreement, and if the
parties are unable to resolve their dispute amicably, it shall be
resolved by means of binding arbitration (not in a court of law);
• that any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or
in connection with this Promotion, or any prizes awarded, shall be
resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action (even
if the rules and procedures of the arbitration tribunal allow class
arbitrations);
• that any and all claims, judgments, and awards shall be limited to
actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with
entering this Promotion, but in no event and under no circumstances
will entrants or winners be permitted to obtain awards for attorneys’
fees, and you hereby waive all rights to claim punitive, incidental, or
consequential damages, or any other form of damages, other than
actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages
multiplied or otherwise increased;
• that any claim or dispute regarding the Promotion or these Official
Rules will be resolved pursuant to the laws of the State or
Commonwealth in which the Main Sponsor is located, without regard
to the conflicts of laws and rules of that State or Commonwealth;
• that any claim or dispute regarding the Promotion or these Official
Rules will be resolved in a tribunal within the State of Utah, and you
submit to the jurisdiction of and waive all objections to the
jurisdiction or venue of such tribunal; and
• if for any reason a claim or dispute regarding the Promotion or these
Official Rules proceeds in court rather than through arbitration, there
will not be a jury trial.
The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Official
Rules, including but not limited to the agreement to arbitrate, shall not
affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. If any such
provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, these
rules shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid
or unenforceable provision was not contained herein.
Official Rules and Winner List: To obtain a copy of these Official
Rules or a winner list following completion of the Promotion, send an
email request to winners@audience.io within sixty (60) days of the end
of the promotion.