NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. THIS CONTEST IS INTENDED FOR PLAY IN THE UNITED STATES ONLY AND WILL BE GOVERNED BY U.S. LAW. DO NOT PARTICIPATE IF YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE AND LOCATED IN THE UNITED STATES AT THE TIME OF ENTRY.
These Official Rules are for the Battle of the Brackets Men’s College Basketball Tournament Contest (the “Contest”), which is a nationwide contest (including both the United States and Canada) Sponsored by Cox Enterprises, Inc. (“Sponsor”). Local affiliates who choose to participate in this Contest may offer prizes for their participants only, but eligibility for those prizes may be restricted to individuals in the affiliate’s local area.
This Contest is not intended to be used for gambling purposes. If it is determined that a participant is using the Contest for gambling purposes, he/she will be disqualified.
1. Eligibility:
This Contest is open to legal residents of the 50 states of United States and the District of Columbia, who are 18 years of age or older. Local affiliates that provide a Contest prize (“Prize Providers”) may restrict eligibility for affiliate prizes; eligibility for local affiliate prizes will be posted on the local affiliate’s website. Employees of Sponsor, Prize Providers, and their affiliates (the “Promotion Parties”), and members of the immediate family (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouse) and households of each such employee are not eligible to participate or win a prize. This contest is void where prohibited by law.
2. Entry Period:
Brackets must be completed and submitted between 8:00 PM EDT on March 17, 2024, and approximately 15 minutes before the first of the first round Men’s College Basketball Tournament games on March 21, 2024 (the “Entry Period”).
3. How to Enter:
Registration:
o Prior to and at any time throughout the Entry Period, beginning at 12:00 AM EDT on March 4th, 2024, you must register for the Contest and establish a user profile that you will you to complete and submit your bracket during the Entry Period.
o Each participant must fully complete the online registration 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. 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.
Bracket Submission
o After registration, select each team that you predict will each game of each round of the Men’s College Basketball Tournament, excluding the four play-in games, (the “Tournament”) and enter your predicted score for each Tournament game (to be used in event of a tie). You will not be required to pick the winners of the four play-in games, as they are not included as part of the Contest. Your completed and timely submitted bracket constitutes your entry. Limit one (1) entry per person.
o 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.
4. Scoring & Winner Selection:
Each round of the Tournament is worth up to 64 points. There are 6 rounds in the tournament worth up to 384 points total. You will receive 2 points each first round game for which you correctly pick the outcome. You will receive 4 points each second round game for which you correctly pick the outcome. You will receive 8 points each third round game for which you correctly pick the outcome. You will receive 16 points each fourth round game for which you correctly pick the outcome. You will receive 32 points each fifth round for which you correctly pick the outcome. You will receive 64 points for correctly picking the winner of the Championship game. If a game is canceled, forfeited, or indefinitely suspended for any reason, the team moving on to the next round of the contest will be awarded points as if they won the actual game.
If the tournament is cancelled prior to the start for any reason, the Full Bracket Prize will be awarded by random selection of the registered users at the time of cancelation.
Full Bracket Winner: The participant with the highest total score for all Tournament rounds combined will be deemed the Full Bracket Winner, subject to verification of eligibility.
Tie-Breaker(s):
In the event of a tie for Full Bracket Winner, the “Tie-Breaker Score Approximation Formula” outlined below will be used to determine the Full Bracket Winner.
Tie-Breaker Score Approximation Formula:
If tied Entrants choose the Championship game winner correctly:
1. Subtract what the participant chose as the Championship game score for the winning team from the actual winning team’s score and square this value.
2. Subtract what the participant chose as the Championship game score for the losing team from the actual losing team’s score and squares this value.
3. Add the value from 1 and 2 above together to get the participant’s “score approximation.” The tied participant with the lowest “Score Approximation” will be deemed the winner.
If there are still ties or tied Entrants did not correctly choose the Championship game winner, the ties will be broken based on the following criteria in this order:
4. The most points earned in the Fifth Round.
5. The most points earned in the Fourth Round.
6. The most points earned in the Third Round.
7. The most points earned in the Second Round.
8. The most points earned in the First Round.
9. If there is still a tie, the winner will be randomly selected from the remaining tied players.
5. Prizes and Approximate Retail Values (“ARVs”):
One (1) total prizes are to be awarded (the “Prize”).
One (1) Full Bracket Prize is to be awarded to the Full Bracket Winner, comprised of:
o One (1) $100 Visa® Gift Card provided by Buckeye EcoCare
o One (1) $100 Visa® Gift Card provided by DayMet Credit Union
o $300 in additional Visa® Gift Cards
Total ARV of all Prizes in the Contest: $500.00
The Promotion Parties reserve the right to substitute any Prize with another prize of equal or greater value. Prizes are non-transferable and no cash equivalent or substitution of prize is offered, except at the sole discretion of the Sponsor.
The Promotion Parties have not made nor are in any manner responsible or liable for any warranty, representation, or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, relative to any prize, including but not limited to its quality, mechanical condition or fitness for a particular purpose. Any and all warranties and/or guarantees on a Prize (if any) are provided only by the manufacturer, and winners agree to look solely to such manufacturers for any such warranty and/or guarantee. Each winner is responsible for all federal, state and local taxes and may be required to complete an IRS form W-9. Sponsor reserves the right to withhold prizes until completed form W-9 is received.
6. Winner Notification and Verification:
Potential winners will be notified by email to the email address provided as part of their entry. Potential winners are subject to verification, including verification of age. Upon Sponsor’s receipt of a potential winner’s return email, the potential winner may be required to verify his/her eligibility by completing, signing, and returning an Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability Release, and, where lawful, a Publicity Release (granting the use of the winner’s name, city/state, likeness, or photograph by Sponsor for advertising/publicity purposes, without further compensation), and supply a U.S. tax form W-9 (when requested), or prize may be forfeited and an alternate potential Prize winner may be contacted. All posted results are unofficial until winners are verified.
If a winner does not respond within seven (7) days of the initial notification email and complete the verification process, the prize will be forfeited and awarded to the next highest scoring participant. Sponsor is not responsible for any change of email address, mailing address and/or telephone number of participants.
7. General Conditions:
Participants agree to abide by the terms of these Official Rules and that the decisions of the Sponsor are final and binding on all matters pertaining to the Contest.
Except where prohibited by law, each participant grants to Promotion Parties the right to use and publish his/her proper name and state/province or residence online and in print, or any other media, in connection with the Contest.
Except in Tennessee, and where prohibited by law, by accepting a prize, winner(s) grant(s) permission for Promotion Parties to use their name, and address (city and state), photograph, voice and/or likeness, for advertising and/or publicity purposes, in any and all media (including posting on Contest website(s)) now known or hereinafter invented without territorial or time limitations and without further notice to and without additional compensation. If selected as a winner, the participant’s information may also be included in a publicly available Winner’s list.
Participants agree (a) to release and hold Sponsor, Promotion Parties and all of their respective officers, directors, employees, representatives and agents harmless from any and all liability for any injuries, losses or damages of any kind, including death, or property resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, misuse or use of the prize or participation in this Contest; (b) that under no circumstances will participants be permitted to obtain awards for any punitive, incidental or consequential damages; (c) all causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any prize awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action; and (d) any and all claims, judgments, and award shall be limited to actual out-of- pocket costs incurred, excluding attorneys’ fees and court costs.
Sponsor reserves the right to suspend, modify or terminate the Contest at any time in its sole discretion.
8. Privacy Notice:
Information you provide in connection with this contest is subject to Sponsor’s Privacy Policy and will be shared with your local affiliate.
9. Limitation of Liability:
Promotion Parties are not responsible for Internet crashes or slowdowns caused by network congestion, viruses, sabotage, satellite failures, phone line failures, electrical outages, natural disasters or acts of man or God, lost, late, misdirected, postage-due, unintelligible, returned, undelivered entries or email, or for lost, interrupted or unavailable satellite, network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), Contest website(s), or other connections availability, accessibility or traffic congestion, miscommunications, failed computer, network, telephone, satellite or cable hardware or software or lines, or technical failure, or jumbled, scrambled, delayed or misdirected transmissions, computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic or network. Persons who tamper with or abuse any aspect of this Contest or Contest website, or act in violation of the Official Rules, or act in any manner to threaten or abuse or harass any person, or violate Contest website’s terms of service, as solely determined by the Sponsor, will be disqualified. Neither Sponsor nor Promotion Parties are responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information whether caused by Contest website users, tampering, hacking, or by any of the programming or equipment associated with or used in this Contest, and assumes no responsibility for any errors, omission, deletion, interruption or delay in operation or transmission or communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized Contest website access. Any use of robotic, macro, automatic, programmed or like methods of play will void all such plays, and may subject that participant to disqualification. Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual (and all of his or her submissions) who tampers with the submission process. Neither Sponsor nor Promotion Parties are responsible for injury or damage to participant’s or any other person’s computer or property related to or resulting from participating in this Contest. Should any portion of Contest be, in the Sponsor’s sole opinion, compromised by virus, worms, bugs, unauthorized human intervention or other causes which, in the sole opinion of the Sponsor, corrupt or impair administration, security, fairness or proper play of this Contest, or Contest plays, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Contest.
10. Winner(s) List:
For a list of winners, mail a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Cox First Media Attn: Men’s College Basketball Tournament Contest Winners List, 601 E. Third St., Suite 600, Dayton OH 45402. Requests must be received by June 30, 2024.
11. Sponsor:
This Contest is sponsored by Cox Enterprises, Inc., 7000 Central Pkwy, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30328.
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.
The content, information, data, designs and code associated with the Contest website are protected by intellectual property and other laws. Copying or unauthorized use of any copyrighted materials, trademarks or any other intellectual property without the express written consent of its owner is strictly prohibited.