Million Dollar Bracket Challenge
OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
TO ENTER OR WIN. PURCHASE DOES NOT
IMPROVE CHANCES OF WINNING. THE
FOLLOWING CONTEST IS VALID ONLY IN THE FIFTY UNITED STATES AND DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA (D.C.), AND IS OPEN ONLY TO QUALIFIED PERSONS (AS DEFINED IN THE RULES
BELOW). VOID ELSEWHERE AND WHEREVER
PROHIBITED. DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE
CONTEST IF YOU DO NOT FALL WITHIN THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS AS SET
Contest Name: Million Dollar Bracket Challenge (the
“Contest”).
Contest Dates: Contest registration is scheduled to begin
at 12:00:01am ET on 3/3/2025 and end at 12:00:00pm (noon) ET on
3/20/2025 prior to the start of the first game in the first round of the
designated tournament (the “Registration Period”). The Grand Prize
Contest is scheduled to occur between 3/20/2025 – 4/7/2025 during the
designated 2025 Men’s College Basketball Tournament. Contest is subject
to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void
outside the U.S. and D.C., and wherever prohibited or restricted by law. Participating contestants acknowledge
that the Contest is one (1) Nationwide Contest made up of many participating
jewelers and pawn shops (collectively “Stores”) as outlined in Appendix A, who are located in various states
and those respective various time zones where Stores are physically
located.
§
Designated
Tournament: 2025
Men’s College Basketball Tournament being played between 3/20/2025 – 4/7/2025,
with the Semi-Final and Championship games to be held at the in San Antonio, TX
on 4/5/2025 and 4/7/2025.
§
NOTE: In the event the tournament is
cancelled, postponed, rescheduled, or any portion of the scheduled games are
cancelled, postponed, or rescheduled, due to Pandemic, Force Majeure, act of
terrorism, war or any other reason, Sponsor reserves the right to either cancel
the Bracket Challenge contest, or to adjust the Contest dates, in its sole
discretion.
§
In
the event any scheduled game during the tournament is cancelled, forfeit,
postponed, delayed or not played as scheduled for any reason, including due to
Pandemic, Force Majeure, act of terrorism, war or any other reason, resulting
in fewer than (63) games being played during the tournament, then there shall
be no opportunity for any entrant to claim either the Grand Prize (correctly
predict all 63 games in the tournament) or the Bonus Prize (correctly predict
60 or more games in the tournament).
Who
May Enter: Contest is open only to
legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia, who reside within the designated states as
determined individually by each participating Store, age 18 or older as of date of entry, with a
valid U.S. driver’s license or government issued photo ID, except the following
persons who are not eligible to enter, participate or win:
(a)
Employees,
officers, and directors of Surreal by JB Bhanderi,
Smart Grown Diamonds (“Sponsors”), Million
Dollar Media (the “Contest Administrator”), each of their respective
franchisees, parents, affiliated companies and subsidiaries (collectively,
“Released Parties”), and the members of the immediate families or households, whether or not related, of any of the above. “Immediate
family members” includes, for purposes of this promotion, parents (including
in-laws), grandparents, siblings (including step-siblings), children (including
step-children), grand children (including step grand-children) and each of
their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside.
(b)
Individuals
who do not have access to an internet connection in order to
visit a participating Store website or complete the contest registration
requirements
How to Enter – On-Line Registration: Visit any participating Store location (see Appendix A) to obtain the
designated Store bracket website during the
“Registration Period” and connect to the designated Store bracket challenge Contest
website registration page. Fully
complete the on-line registration with all required information to enter,
including your name, complete address (including city, state and zip), valid
email address, birth date, phone number (including
area code), and each registrant will
designate their own ‘Screen Name’, and must enter their username (email
address) and password. The designated
‘Screen Name’ will be displayed on the ‘Standings Page’ 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.
After having read and
agreed to these Official Rules, each entrant must fully complete their bracket prediction
prior to the bracket prediction deadline, per the requirements as listed below. Any entry submitted with an invalid email
address will be disqualified.
IMPORTANT:
There is a maximum of one entry per person, per valid email address during
the entire contest registration period. Any contestant submitting more than one
entry by using the same or duplicate emails or names will void all entries by
that contestant.
Any available opt-in opportunities are not
required to enter the Contest, and checking the opt-in boxes will not improve
your chances of winning.
By participating and submitting an
entry, contestant agrees that Sponsor and participating Stores are authorized
to contact entrant via email, mail, phone or any other form of media to make
contestant aware of information pertinent to the contest, and to distribute
information regarding the Sponsor and Store featured products, special events
or promotional offers, or purchase incentives.
Contestants may opt-out of any further email communication at any time
by simply following the provided opt-out instructions.
Bracket Prediction Deadline – Bracket Predictions must be completed and
submitted (saved) by 12:00:00pm (noon) ET on 3/20/2025: Each
contestant must complete, submit and save their fully completed bracket
prediction for the 2025 Men’s College Basketball Tournament, per the
requirements outlined below. Bracket
predictions must be completed, submitted and saved between:
NOTE – Play-in game byes: The play-in games on 3/18/2025
and 3/19/2025 are byes, and not part of the prediction challenge.
Bracket Prediction: Once the designated 2025 Men’s
College Basketball Tournament team selections have been announced on 3/16/2025
– all pre-registered or newly registering participants must fully complete the
provided Bracket Prediction form on the Picks page of the contest website. Any contestant who does not complete a
bracket prediction for all (63) games in the tournament for any reason by the
required deadline at 12:00:00pm ET on 3/20/2025, shall be disqualified from the
contest, and not eligible to participate or win the grand prize or bonus prize.
Tie-Breaker: Each participant will also be required to
submit their prediction of the Total
Cumulative Points to be scored in the Championship Game on 4/7/2025. Any contestant who failed to complete the
Total Cumulative Points ‘tie-break’ prediction will be assigned a point total
of 0 cumulative points for the Championship Game.
IMPORTANT – Save Picks: After completing or editing a
Bracket Prediction, participants are required to click the ‘Save Picks’ button on the contest website to save their bracket
predictions selections, cumulative score prediction or to make any updates to
their bracket predictions prior to the registration deadline. Any changes or completed bracket predictions
made without clicking the ‘Save Picks’
will not be saved, and will not be eligible or recognized for this contest.
All bracket prediction entries must
be received by 12:00:00pm ET on 3/20/2025
in order to be eligible to participate in the Contest or
claim any prize award (see below). Any registered participant or contestant
who fails to fully or correctly complete the required Bracket Prediction for
all (63) games in the designated tournament (and then Save their picks) will be
disqualified from the contest and will be ineligible to claim any prize. Any bracket prediction not received by the
Contest Administrator by the required deadline for any reason including, but not limited to transmission
error, human error, internet problems, programming or technical errors, equipment
or website malfunction, user error, data corruption, internet traffic or errors
caused by viruses or hackers will be disqualified. Sponsor is not responsible for any delays or
difficulty in receipt an eligible contestant’s Bracket Prediction, or for any
loss or corruption of data that prevents a contestant from participating for
any reason.
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 user 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
the event of a dispute as to any online registration, the authorized account
holder used to enter the Contest will be deemed to be the registrant and he/she
must be eligible according to these Official Rules. The “authorized account holder” will be
determined by Sponsor as the individual listed on the account and/or the
natural person assigned the e-mail address on the account by an Internet access
provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for
assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted
address. All entries received become the
property of the Sponsor and will not be returned.
Eligible
Entries: There will be a maximum of 1,000,000 total
entries allowed among all participating Store brackets combined. The contest registration shall be closed following
receipt of the first 1,000,000 eligible entries received.
Scoring – Bracket
Points: Each eligible participant who has
successfully completed the on-line registration and bracket prediction as
required by these Official Rules will receive the following points for each of
the (63) games for which they have correctly predicted the winning team:
1 point for each
correct pick in Round 1
2 points for each
correct pick in Round 2
3 points for each
correct pick in Round 3
4 points for each
correct pick in Round 4
5 points for each
correct pick in Round 5
6 points for the
correct Champion
Any
incorrect predictions will receive 0 points.
The maximum point total for correctly predicting the winning team in
every game played during the designated Men’s College Basketball Tournament is
120 points. At the completion of the
designated tournament, each eligible contestant bracket prediction received
will be compared to the actual bracket outcome.
Tie Breaking Procedures
– Bracket Champion Prize Awards (see below):
In the event of a tie among any point leaders in the Bracket prediction within
any participating Store bracket following the conclusion of the tournament, the
tie-breaker to determine winners for any Store bracket champion prize shall be
as follows (tie breaker procedures shall
not apply for the $1,000,000 40 year annuity Grand Prize or $10,000 Cash Bonus
Prize award levels – see below):
·
Contestant
who has predicted closest to the actual Cumulative Points total in the
Championship game, regardless if the prediction is higher or lower than the
actual point total.
·
In
the event of a remaining tie among any eligible contestants within any Store bracket
for any bracket champion prize award, the tie-breaker
shall then be a random drawing among remaining tied contestants conducted by
the Contest Administrator at that participating Store location.
Prize
Awards: The following prize awards will be available
to eligible contestants participating in the Contest:
All prize awards
are NON-CUMULATIVE. An eligible
contestant is eligible for only one (1) prize award.
Grand Prize – Predict all (63) Games
Correctly (“Perfect Bracket”): If any eligible contestant correctly predicts the winner of all (63)
games in the designated 2025 Men’s College Basketball Tournament (a perfect
bracket), they will be eligible to claim the grand prize subject to approval
and verification of compliance with these official rules. The grand prize is: $1,000,000
40-year annuity, awarded in the form of equal annual installments of $25,000
Cash per year for 40-years without interest.
The initial prize award of $25,000 cash shall be awarded within
approximately 30-days of receipt of all required prize acceptance paperwork,
and each subsequent payment shall occur on or about the anniversary date of the
first payment for 39-years. No current
cash value of the annuity prize award will be available.
A
maximum of one (1) grand prize will be awarded from among all combined
participating Store brackets, regardless of the number of contestants who have
submitted a potential winning perfect bracket prediction. In
the event of multiple winning entries in this Contest, then the cash value of
the grand prize will be evenly distributed among eligible winning contestants
(i.e. if there are two winning contestants, each contestant will receive
$12,500 per year for 40-years). If no eligible contestant successfully
completes the grand prize-winning requirements, then the grand prize will NOT be awarded.
· NOTE: For purposes
of clarity, if any game(s) are cancelled, forfeited, or indefinitely suspended
for any reason, and fewer than (63) games are played in the designated
tournament, then no entrant shall be able to correctly predict the winner of all
(63) games in the designated Men’s College Basketball Tournament, as required
to claim the grand prize. As a result of any such cancellations, forfeits
or indefinite game suspensions, there shall be no (63) game perfect brackets,
and no opportunity to claim the $1,000,000 40-year annuity grand prize, and no
grand prize or alternate substitute prize or compensation will be available for
award in the contest. Any eligible contestant who has correctly predicted
every game played in the tournament as of the date of any such cancellation(s),
forfeit(s) or indefinite suspension(s), but fewer than all scheduled (63) games
for any reason, shall not be awarded and shall have no opportunity to claim the
grand prize.
Bonus
Prize – Predict (60) or more Games Correctly: If any eligible contestant correctly predicts the winner of (60) or more
games in the designated 2025 Men’s College Basketball Tournament, they will be
eligible to claim the bonus prize subject to approval and verification of
compliance with these official rules.
The bonus prize is: $10,000 Cash.
A
maximum of one (1) bonus prize will be awarded from among all combined
participating Store brackets, regardless of the number of contestants who have
submitted a potential winning 60 or more correct games prediction. In
the event of multiple winning entries, then the cash value of the bonus prize
will be evenly split among eligible winning contestants. If no eligible contestant successfully
completes the bonus prize winning requirements, then the bonus prize will NOT be awarded
· NOTE: For purposes
of clarity, if any game(s) are cancelled, forfeited, or indefinitely suspended
for any reason, and fewer than (60) games are played in the designated
tournament, then no entrant shall be able to correctly predict the winner of (60)
or more games in the designated Men’s College Basketball Tournament, as
required to claim the bonus prize. As a result of any such cancellations,
forfeits or indefinite game suspensions where fewer than (60) games are played,
there shall be no (60) or more correct game brackets, and no opportunity
to claim the $10,000 bonus prize, and no bonus prize or alternate substitute
prize or compensation will be available for award in the contest. Any
eligible contestant who has correctly predicted fewer than (60) or more games
for any reason, shall not be awarded and shall have no opportunity to claim the
bonus prize.
.Store
Bracket Guaranteed Prizes (if available) – Most Points Scored
·
IMPORTANT NOTE: Not all participating Stores shall award guaranteed
prizes. Participating Stores may choose to offer
guaranteed prize awards in the Stores’s sole determination and discretion. Any available participating Store bracket
prize awards shall be as designated and listed on the participating Store bracket
website. See any participating Store for
availability and prize award details. If
there are no prize awards designated, then there shall not be a Store prize
award for that participating Store location.
If available from your participating Store, the
eligible contestant(s) who earn the most points from among all eligible contestants
within that participating Store bracket shall be eligible to claim the associated
prize award(s) available from that participating Store, subject to approval and
verification of compliance with these official rules.
Employees of Stores and immediate family
members of employees of Stores are not eligible to claim any Store guaranteed
prize awards . In the event
multiple contestants are tied for the most points earned for a prize within a
participating Store bracket, then the tie breaking procedures (see above) will apply for determining
the all prize award winners for that participating Store.
Winners must accept delivery of prize as specified by Store. Prize does not include any other costs or
associated expenses not specifically listed by Store or any related delivery,
prize acceptance, installation or use costs.
All applicable federal, state and local taxes are the winner’s sole responsibility. All prize awards are non-transferable and no
cash redemption or prize substitution allowed, except at Sponsor’s sole
discretion or as provided herein.
Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of comparable or
greater value, at its sole discretion.
All of the following will apply for each
prize winner: 1) Winner may be required to complete and return, within 5 days
of date of receipt, a W-9 form (if prize value exceeds $600), an affidavit of
eligibility, and a liability/publicity release (where permitted); 2) Winner may
be required to present a copy of a valid social security card and a valid
driver’s license as a condition of participating or receiving any prize; 3) Winner will be issued an IRS Form 1099
reflecting the actual value of all prizes won, if prize value exceeds $600; and
4) Winner will be responsible for paying all applicable taxes (including, but
not limited to all local, state and federal taxes) on all prizes awarded. 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.
Additional
Rules & Restrictions: By participating
in this Contest, entrants agree to abide by and be bound by the Official Rules
and the decisions of the Sponsor and Administrator, which shall be final in all
matters relating to this Contest. In the
event an entrant wins a prize, and is later found to be in violation of these
rules he/she will be required to forfeit the prize or to reimburse Sponsor for
the stated value of the prize if such violation is discovered after winner has
used the prize. Participation in Contest constitutes
permission for the Sponsor and its designees to use prize winner(s) names,
cities and states of residence and/or likenesses for purposes of advertising
and trade in any and all media now or hereafter known worldwide on perpetuity
without limitation or further compensation, notification or permission, unless
prohibited by law. False, fraudulent
or deceptive entries or acts shall render entrants
ineligible for any prize.
By participating,
entrants agree to hold all Released Parties harmless from any claims, losses,
actions, or damages of any kind, whether actual, incidental or consequential,
for injury (including but not limited to death), damages, losses or expenses
arising out of or relating to entrant’s participation in this Contest, or the
acceptance, possession or use/misuse of any prize, or participation in
prize-related activities (including but not limited to travel or activity
related thereto), and to assume all liability thereof.
Released Parties
shall not be liable to winner or any other person for failure to supply the
prize or any part thereof by reason of any acts of God, Pandemics, Force
Majeure, any actions, regulations, orders, or requests by any governmental
entity, equipment failure, terrorist acts, war, fire, unusually severe weather,
embargo, labor dispute or strike, labor or material shortage, transportation
interruption of any kind, or any other cause beyond Released Parties’ sole
control.
Participants are
restricted to use of ordinary and typical computer equipment, mobile phone
equipment, Internet access and cellular networks. Sponsor disclaims all
liability for the inability of a participant to complete or continue an entry
due to equipment malfunction, busy lines, inadvertent disconnections, acts
beyond the Sponsor’s control, or otherwise. The Sponsor disclaims any liability
for received entries due to technical difficulties or transmission errors. The
Sponsor disclaims all liability for any delays, mis-delivery, loss, or failure
in the delivery of any item sent by mail, courier, express, electronic
transmission, or other delivery method.
Released Parties are not responsible for mechanical, technical,
electronic, communications, telephone, computer, hardware or software errors,
malfunctions or failures of any kind, including: failed, incomplete, garbled or
delayed transmission of online entries, traffic congestion on telephone lines,
the Internet or at any website or lost or unavailable network connections which
may limit an online entrant's ability to participate in the Contest, and any
injury or damage to entrant’s or any other person’s computer or mobile phone
related to or resulting from participating in or downloading any information
necessary to participate in the Contest.
Released Parties are not responsible for any other errors of any kind,
whether computer, technical, typographical, printing, human or otherwise,
relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitations,
errors which may occur in connection with the printing or advertising of this
Contest, administration or execution of the Contest, the cancellation of the
game, the processing of entries or in the announcement of the prizes or prize
winners. Sponsor, in its sole
discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any person tampering with the
entry process or the operation of the contest website.
Sponsor reserves
the right to cancel, modify or terminate the Contest for any reason including
in the event the Tournament is postponed, rescheduled, cancelled or fewer than
(63) games will be played for any reason including due to Pandemic, Force
Majeure, acts of God, terrorist acts, war, or if any fraud, misconduct,
technical failures, programming error or other issue destroys or threatens the
integrity of the Contest, in the opinion of the Sponsor/Administrator, or if a
computer virus, bug, or other technical problem corrupts the administration,
security, or proper conduct of the Contest as determined by
Sponsor/Administrator, in their sole discretion. In the event of early
termination of the Contest, the grand prize and bonus prize shall not be
awarded for any reason.
If due to
circumstances beyond the control of the Sponsor, the Tournament or any game or
event associated with this Contest is delayed, rescheduled, postponed or
cancelled, Sponsor reserves the right, but not the obligation, to cancel or
modify the Contest and shall not be required to award any prizes(s).
IN
CASE OF DISPUTES: By participating, each entrant agrees that
(1) any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or in
connection with this Contest, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved
individually, without resort to any form of class action, and any judicial
proceeding shall take place in a federal or state court within the State of New
Jersey; (2) any and all claims, judgments, and awards shall be limited to
actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering
this Promotion, and in no event will entrant be entitled to received attorneys'
fees or other legal costs; and (3) under no circumstances will entrant be
permitted to obtain awards for, and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim,
punitive, incidental, and consequential damages, and any other damages, other
than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages
multiplied or otherwise increased. All issues and questions concerning the
construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official
Rules, or the rights and obligations of entrant and Sponsor in connection with
this Promotion, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with the laws
of the State of New Jersey, without giving effect to any choice of law or
conflict of law rules or provisions (whether of the State of New Jersey or any
other jurisdiction), that would cause the application of the laws of any
jurisdiction other than the State of New Jersey.
Official
Rules & Winners List: For a copy of these Official Rules or the
names of prize winners over $1,000, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to
be received by 6/7/2025 to: $1 Million
Dollar Bracket Challenge, c/o Million Dollar Media, P.O. Box 248, Woodbridge,
NJ 07095. PLEASE SPECIFY which you are requesting:
Official Rules or Winners List.
Sponsor: This Contest is Sponsored by Surreal by JB Bhanderi and Smart Grown Diamonds.
Administrator: This Contest is administered by Million
Dollar Media, LLC, P.O. Box 248, Woodbridge, NJ
07095.
Facebook is not a party to this
Contest and has not offered or sponsored this Contest in any way; and shall
have no liability or responsibility for any claim arising in connection with
this Contest or any item(s) awarded.
APPENDIX A – Participating Stores
·
TBD