$1,000,000 College Basketball Mayhem Contest 2026
OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCEOF 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 inthe 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 Roundgame on March 19th, 2026 (“The Registration Period”), you may log in to your established user profileand choose your preferred winning teams from the teams that are announced as participating in the 2026Men’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 tooccur between March 19th, 2026 and April 6th, 2026 during the designated 2026 Men’s CollegeBasketball 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 firstFirst Round game on March 20th, 2026), you may enter once total by visiting the website of the ParticipatingStation or Sponsor and following the instructions to enter.
Each entrant must fully complete the online entry form with all required information, including your name, zipcode, valid email address and phone number, including area code. Each registrant will designate their ownusername (email address) and password. The designated ‘Screen Name’ will be the first name and last nameand will be displayed on the ‘Leaders’ and ‘Picks’ section during the contest. Each registrant’s username (emailaddress) & 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 anddelete 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 theauthorized account holder of the email address submitted at the time of entry. The authorized account holder isthe natural person who is assigned to the email address by an Internet access provider, online service provideror other organization that is responsible for assigning the email address or the domain associated with thesubmitted email address. Multiple entrants are not permitted to share the same email address. Entriessubmitted will not be acknowledged or returned. Use of any device to automate entry is prohibited. Proof ofsubmission 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 becontacted 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, anyparticipating colleges or universities, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media platform. Bysubmission of an entry, you release Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and any other social media platform from anyresponsibility or liability related to the Promotions. You are providing entry information to one or more of thePromotion 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, includingthose related to the Internet, cell phone service, or computer failures. Accordingly, Promotion Entities are notresponsible 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, anyother 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 theirsole discretion, that there is any suspected or actual electronic tampering with the Promotion or if technicaldifficulties compromise the integrity of the Promotion, the Promotion Entities reserve the right to void the entriesat issue and/or modify, suspend or terminate the Promotion. If, for any reason, the Promotion is not capable ofrunning as planned, including because of tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or anyother 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 orterminate the Promotion.
Any attempt by an entrant or any person to deliberately damage any website or social networking site used inthe Promotion or to undermine the legitimate operation of this Promotion may be a violation of criminal and civillaws. Should such an attempt be made, Audience reserves the right to seek full prosecution and/or damagesfrom any such individual to the fullest extent permitted by law. Audience’s failure to enforce any term of theseOfficial 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 byAudience. When the teams participating in the 16 team and semifinal rounds are decided, entrants can returnto 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 of16 and 4.
Eligibility
: The Promotion is open to all legal residents of the U.S. 21 years of age or older, except employeesof Audience, Participating Stations and other Sponsors (collectively, the “Promotion Entities”), other television orradio 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 livingin the same household. This Promotion is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws andregulations. Void outside the United States and where prohibited. Entrants who do not meet the eligibilityrequirements will be disqualified and unable to win.
Eligible Entries: Only the entries received from contestants who have successfully completed thebracket prediction entry by the deadline of up to 15 minutes before the tipoff of the first First Round gameon 3/19/26 will be eligible to participate in the grand prize contest. Any additional entries that have beenreceived after the deadline are ineligible to participate or win any prize, regardless of the accuracy of theirsubmitted bracket prediction.
Bracket Prediction: Bracket predictions must be completed and submitted between March 15th, 2026following team selection announcements for the designated Men’s College Basketball Tournament andup 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 thispromotion’s prediction challenge.
Once the designated 2026 Men’s College Basketball Tournament team selections have beenannounced on March 15th, 2026, all registered or newly registering participants must fully complete theprovided 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 15minutes 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 firstFirst Round game on March 19th, 2026 in order to be eligible to participate or claim any prize. Anyregistered participant or contestant who fails to fully or correctly complete the on-line registration form, orfully 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 totransmission error, internet problems, equipment or website malfunction, internet traffic or errors caused byviruses or hackers will be disqualified. Main Sponsor is not responsible for any delays or difficulty in receipt ofan 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 isnot expressly allowed under these rules, or for any entry not submitted or received due to any technical error orfailure, unauthorized human intervention, inaccurate capture or mis-entry of any required information, or thefailure to capture any such information or effects of hackers or failure of any electronic equipment, computer orcellular 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 anotherindividual 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 isprohibited 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 owncontest or sweepstakes for a chance to win a local prize. For more information and official rules, visit thewebsite of the Participating Station or Sponsor. Audience is not responsible for the conduct or administration ofany 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 tothe tip off of the first First Round game, submits a qualified entry into this contest that successfullypredicts the winning team of every game in the 2026 NCAA Men’s College Basketball ChampionshipTournament held between March 19th, 2026 and April 6th, 2026. A maximum of one (1) grand prize willbe awarded. In the event of multiple winning entries, then the cash value of the grand prize will be evenlydistributed among eligible winning contestants. If no eligible contestant successfully completes the grandprize-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 9.2quintillion. Source: NCAA.com
Prizes cannot be transferred or substituted except in Audience’s sole discretion. Audience reserves theright to substitute the prize with a prize of comparable or greater value (as determined by Audience in itssole discretion).
By accepting a prize, winner agrees to release Audience and its advertising, promotion and productionagencies and their respective parents and subsidiaries, shareholders, directors, employees, agents andrepresentatives from any and all liability, claims or actions of any kind whatsoever for injuries, damagesor losses to persons and property which may be sustained directly or indirectly in connection with thereceipt, ownership or use of the prize.
Scoring:
If any eligible contestant correctly predicts the winners of all 63 games in the designated Men’sCollege Basketball Tournament, they will be eligible to claim the grand prize of $1,000,000 subject toverification of compliance with these official rules.
All other costs and expenses related to prize acceptance and use not specified herein as beingprovided are the sole responsibility of Grand Prize winner. All income, federal, state and local taxes areGrand Prize or Bonus Prize winner’s sole responsibility. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize ofcomparable 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 theprize. If forfeited for any reason, finalist will not receive any other prize substitution or compensation, andthe prize will remain the property of Sponsor and will not be awarded, except as provided herein. All otherexpenses not specified herein as being included are the sole responsibility of the winner. Prize awardsare non-transferable, and no cash redemption or prize substitution allowed, except at Sponsor’s solediscretion or as provided herein.
Bracket Points: Each eligible Entrant who has successfully completed the online registration andbracket 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 thewinning 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 willbe 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 tiebreakersto determine the ‘Bracket Winner’ for the Local Sweepstakes prize shall be as follows (tie breakerprocedures 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 absolutevalue of the difference between the chosen and actual score for tiebreaker team #1 is added to theabsolute value of the difference between the chosen and actual score for tiebreaker team #2, then thisvalue will be subtracted from the possible baseline tiebreaker points of one hundred (100). If playerleaves either tiebreaker team blank the player will automatically receive zero (0) tiebreaker points. Theplayer’s tiebreaker points will be a separate score and will only be used in the case of a tie. In which casethe player with the highest tiebreaker points will be the winner. If a tie still exists after using the tiebreakerformula 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 allsixty-three (63) games in the designated Men’s College Basketball Tournament. If no eligible Entrantscorrectly predict the winning teams in all sixty-three (63) NCAA Championship tournament games, thenthe $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 thetime of entry. Audience is not responsible for any prize that cannot be awarded due to acts of God, actsof 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’sidentification by a showing of valid government-issued photo ID.
Decisions of Audience with respect to winner selection and the awarding of prizes are final and bindingwhen made.
General
Payments of all federal, state and local taxes are solely the responsibility of winner. Winner mustexecute and return any required IRS form (including IRS form 1099), affidavit of eligibility, liability andpublicity release (where permitted by law), or similar document within ten (10) days of notification orwinner 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 byproviding a mobile number for winner notification purposes, is responsible for informing the PromotionEntities if his or her number is reassigned to another person at any time before the end of the Promotionand 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 Audienceor 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 regardingthe Promotion or its sponsors for purposes of trade, publicity or promotion without additional financial orother compensation, and, Audience may, where legal, require a winner to sign a publicity releaseconfirming 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, youunderstand and agree:
to release and hold harmless Promotion Entities, and each of their respective parent, subsidiaryand affiliated entities, advertising and promotion agencies, any social media platform utilized in theconduct 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 Prizeor the Promotion. You further understand and agree that all rights under Section 1542 of the CivilCode of California (“Section 1542”) and any similar law of any state or territory of the United Statesthat may be applicable with respect to the foregoing release are hereby expressly and foreverwaived. You acknowledge that Section 1542 provides that: “A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOTEXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST INHIS OR HER FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH, IF KNOWN BYHIM OR HER MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS OR HER SETTLEMENT WITH THEDEBTOR.” The releases hereunder are intended to apply to all claims not known or suspected toexist with the intent of waiving the effect of laws requiring the intent to release future unknownclaims.
that the Federal Arbitration Act applies to this agreement, and if the parties are unable to resolvetheir 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 thisPromotion, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of classaction (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 costsincurred, including costs associated with entering this Promotion, but in no event and under nocircumstances will entrants or winners be permitted to obtain awards for attorneys’ fees, and youhereby waive all rights to claim punitive, incidental, or consequential damages, or any other form ofdamages, other than actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damagesmultiplied or otherwise increased;
that any claim or dispute regarding the Promotion or these Official Rules will be resolvedpursuant to the laws of the State or Commonwealth in which the Main Sponsor is located, withoutregard 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 atribunal within the State of Utah, and you submit to the jurisdiction of and waive all objections to thejurisdiction or venue of such tribunal; and
if for any reason a claim or dispute regarding the Promotion or these Official Rules proceeds incourt 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 theagreement to arbitrate, shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. If any such provisionis determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, these rules shall be construed in accordance with theirterms 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 ofthe Promotion, send an email request to winners@audience.io within sixty (60) days of the end of thepromotion