The $2.5k NFL Freeroll Official Rules

The $2.5k NFL Freeroll (the "Contest") is a free-to-enter, season-long NFL contest run at linecrush.com/free. Entrants draft a team of four captains and sixteen supporting players, then play a weekly head-to-head season against other entrants. The Contest is a game of skill offered for research and entertainment purposes only: it involves no wagering, no entry fee, and no purchase of any kind. The Contest is not gambling and no consideration is required to enter or win.

The Contest is sponsored and administered by LineCrush ("Sponsor"), reachable at hello@linecrush.com. The Contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with the National Football League, its teams, or its players.

The Contest is open to natural persons who, at the time of entry: (a) are legal residents of one of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia (U.S. territories excluded); and (b) are at least 21 years old, or the minimum legal age for sports-betting-related content in their jurisdiction, whichever is higher. Employees, contractors, and founders of LineCrush, and members of their immediate families or households, are not eligible. The Contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law.

The Contest runs across the 2026 NFL regular season, Weeks 1 through 17. Entries open before the season and close at the Week 4 pairing moment (Wednesday 09:00 UTC before Week 4's first game). Entering later costs lives: an entrant starts with 4 lives, minus 1 life for each full week of the Contest that passed before their first active week, and never below 1 life. An entrant who drafts before Week 1 starts with 4 lives; an entrant whose first active week is Week 3 starts with 2.

Weeks the entrant missed are still scored for supporting-player XP: for each missed week, every supporting-player slot credits the average of that slot's three players, so the XP an entrant carries in does not depend on which player they later chose. Missed weeks award no battle points and cost no additional lives beyond the entry penalty above.

Enter for free at linecrush.com/free by drafting a team and choosing a display name. A team is four captains, one at each of quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and tight end, taken from the Contest board within a 100-gold wallet, plus one choice in each of the four supporting-player slots at each position (each slot offers three players of that position; 16 supporting-player picks in total). Gold left unspent is banked and is the first tiebreaker in the finale (Section 7). By entering a team you agree to these Official Rules and to the LineCrush Terms of Service.

A roster can be changed freely until it locks. It locks for the whole season at the pairing moment of the entrant's first active week, which is Wednesday 09:00 UTC before that week's first game. After that moment no captain or supporting player may be changed, added, or replaced for any reason, including injury, benching, trade, or retirement.

Limit one entry per person. Entering more than once, including through multiple devices, browsers, browser profiles, or accounts, is grounds for disqualification.

Every player scores standard PPR fantasy points from official NFL statistics: 1 point per 25 passing yards, 4 points per passing touchdown, minus 2 points per interception, 1 point per 10 rushing or receiving yards, 6 points per rushing or receiving touchdown, and 1 point per reception. Totals are rounded to one decimal place.

An entrant's battle score for a week is the sum, across their four captains, of that captain's PPR points for the week multiplied by that captain's current multiplier. If a captain has no game that week (bye, inactive, or no game log), the first of that position's chosen supporting players that does have a game log is substituted in his place and scores at the captain's multiplier. If none of them played, that captain contributes 0 for the week.

Each of an entrant's 16 supporting-player choices (shown as Boosters in the product) earns XP every week from that player's real production: XP equals the player's PPR points for the week (never below zero) times a position weight of 0.65 for quarterbacks, 1.0 for running backs and wide receivers, and 1.4 for tight ends, rounded to one decimal place. That product is then multiplied by the position's XP rate, a normalization factor derived from the supporting players that position's board can offer, so that a position with a thinner pool of supporting players is not a dead end. The rates are fixed for the season at the time the draft board is published and are shown in the draft; for the 2026 season they are 1.4x for quarterbacks, 1.1x for running backs, 1.2x for wide receivers, and 1.0x for tight ends.

A position's four supporting players pool their XP into that position's captain. Every 10 cumulative XP raises that captain one level, and each level adds +0.01x to his multiplier: a captain starts at 1.00x, reaches 1.10x at 100 XP, 1.25x at 250 XP, and so on with no cap. XP is credited when a week is graded, so the multiplier used in a given week is the one earned through the previous week.

In Weeks 1 through 16, every active entrant is paired at random against another active entrant. Pairings for a week are drawn at that week's pairing moment (Wednesday 09:00 UTC), after the previous week is graded, and eliminated entrants are excluded. The entrant with the higher battle score wins the week; the entrant with the lower battle score loses one life. A tie is a push: no life is lost by either entrant. When the number of active entrants is odd, one entrant receives a bye that week and loses no life; the bye is drawn from the entrants who have not had one, so no entrant receives a second bye until every active entrant has had one.

An entrant starts with the lives described in Section 3 and can earn one extra life by sharing LineCrush at any point up until the Week 4 pairing moment. A "shared friend" is a distinct person who joins the Contest through the entrant's invite link or creates a qualified LineCrush account from the entrant's referral link or shares. At 3 shared friends the entrant receives one extra life, and only while the entrant is still alive (limit one extra life per entrant; the extra life never revives an eliminated entrant; an entrant referring themself through additional entries or accounts does not count and is grounds for disqualification under Section 4). An entrant with an active paid LineCrush subscription (VIP, GOAT, or any higher-tier or legacy paid plan) receives that same one extra life without sharing, on the same terms and the same Week 4 deadline. No purchase is necessary: any entrant can obtain the extra life for free through the sharing method described above, and sharing and subscribing grant the identical single extra life.

An entrant who loses their last life is eliminated and plays no further head-to-head weeks. Eliminated entrants keep being scored for the season leaderboard, but win nothing further from weekly play and cannot re-enter.

Week 17 is the finale. There are no pairings: every entrant still alive scores Week 17 against the whole remaining field. Final ranking is by Week 17 battle points, highest first; ties are broken by banked gold, highest first; remaining ties are broken by cumulative season battle points, highest first. If fewer than four entrants are still alive for the finale, the remaining paid places are filled from eliminated entrants ranked by elimination week (latest first), then cumulative season points, then banked gold. If a tie survives every tiebreaker above, the tied entrants divide the combined prize money for the places they occupy equally.

The Contest has a total prize pool of $2,500 (USD), allocated $1,500 to first place, $500 to second place, $350 to third place, and $150 to fourth place per the final ranking in Section 7. The prize allocation is also posted on the Contest page and forms part of these Official Rules. Prizes are not transferable and may not be substituted, except that Sponsor may substitute a prize of equal or greater value at its sole discretion. Winners are solely responsible for all applicable taxes. Odds of winning depend on the number of entrants and each entrant's skill in drafting and managing their team.

Winners are announced on the Contest page after the Contest resolves. To claim a prize, a winner must contact Sponsor at hello@linecrush.com within 14 days of the announcement (or respond within 14 days if Sponsor contacts them first), verify their identity and eligibility, and provide the information reasonably needed to deliver the prize, including any tax documentation required by law. A prize not claimed within that window, or claimed by an entrant who cannot verify eligibility, is forfeited.

Sponsor may disqualify any entrant who enters more than once, uses automation or scripted play, exploits bugs, manipulates grading, or otherwise tampers with the fair operation of the Contest. Sponsor's decisions on grading, pairings, standings, eligibility, and disqualification are final and binding.

If the Contest cannot run as planned for reasons outside Sponsor's reasonable control (including technical failures, data-provider outages, or changes to the NFL schedule), Sponsor may modify, suspend, or cancel the Contest with notice on the Contest page, and may award prizes based on standings at the time of cancellation.

Entrant display names and results appear on public leaderboards. Except where prohibited, entry constitutes permission for Sponsor to use a winner's display name for winner announcements without further compensation. Personal information is handled per the LineCrush Privacy Policy.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, entrants release Sponsor and its founders, employees, and contractors from any claims arising out of participation in the Contest or the acceptance or use of a prize.

These Official Rules are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware. Disputes are resolved as set out in the LineCrush Terms of Service.

For the names (display names) of the winners, email hello@linecrush.com within 60 days after the Contest ends.