HOW IT WORKS
The full walkthrough of FootballPools's NFL pools — Survivor and Pick'em, live-scored across all 18 weeks of the season.
Playing in a Pool
Join with a code
Enter the invite code your commissioner shared — or open their link — and you'll see the pool's format, rules, and entry fee before you confirm. Creating your free account takes a minute.
Pick every week
Survivor: pick ONE team to win, and never reuse a team. Pick'em: pick any 5 games and take a side against the spread. Change your mind as often as you like before the lock.
Picks lock game by game
Each game locks at its own kickoff — early games first, everything by the Sunday 1:00 PM ET slate. Picks go public game by game as they lock, so nobody's Sunday card leaks early.
Scoring is automatic
Results come straight from live NFL data. Eliminations, standings, pots, and rollovers update within minutes of each game going final — no spreadsheets, no disputes.
Reminders have your back
Haven't picked yet? FootballPools reminds you twice each week — a heads-up about a day before and a last call in the final hours — by email, plus push if you've enabled it.
Running a Pool
Create your pool
Choose Survivor or Pick'em, name it, and set your house rules — team re-use, rebuys, auto-picks, mid-season joining, the final-week pot. About two minutes, start to finish.
Invite the group
Share one invite code or link — friends, the office, the family thread. Leave the pool open all season if you like: late joiners are only responsible from the week they join.
Entry fees stay in your group
You set the fee and share your payment handles (Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, PayPal, Pix). FootballPools never holds the money — it just tracks who's paid in the pool's Finances tab so the books stay clean.
Free for up to 5 members
Bigger pools pay a hosting fee of $2 per member above 5 — paid by the commissioner around the first week, covering the entire season.
What Makes Survivor Tick
One team a week, win or go home — the office-pool classic, with the rules your pool chooses at creation:
- Byes — Byes hit 9 of the 18 weeks and take up to 6 teams off the board at once, and a team on its bye can't be picked — so the board changes week to week and the easy wins aren't always there.
- Team re-use — Every team can be used once. With 32 teams across 18 weeks you'll never run out — the skill is deciding when to spend your best ones.
- Rebuys — Optional. If enabled, an eliminated member can buy back in and re-enter alive with their used-team history intact — the rebuy fee goes into the pot.
- The endgame — Last one standing is champion. If everyone left falls in the same week, they share the pot as co-champions — and whoever is still alive when the season ends shares the title too.
- Safety nets — A postponed game voids your pick and returns the team to your slate. And if your pool enables auto-picks, FootballPools submits the strongest available team when you forget.
What Makes Pick'em Tick
Five results a week, all or nothing — a fresh card every week, so one bad week never knocks you out:
- Weekly pots — The season fund — one entry fee × members — splits into one pot per week. A perfect 5-for-5 card wins the week; multiple perfect cards share it.
- The spread — Every pick is against the spread, captured early in the week and frozen — everyone plays the identical number, and a push counts as a loss.
- Rollovers — Nobody perfect? The pot rolls into next week's and keeps stacking until someone earns it.
- The final week — The final week has nowhere to roll, so the commissioner fixes the rule at creation: split among the season's best, carry to next season, or commissioner's call.
- No eliminations — Miss a deadline and you just sit the week out. Postponed games void the pick — it never counts against your card.
READY FOR THE SEASON?
Free for pools of up to 5 members — and your pool can be ready before the September 9 opener.