Bad beat of the week

By submitting an entry, you agree to the Official Rules.

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A FREE WTF ACCOUNT IS REQUIRED TO ENTER. OPEN ONLY TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE 50 UNITED STATES AND D.C. WHO HAVE REACHED THE AGE OF MAJORITY IN THEIR STATE OF RESIDENCE (18+, 19 IN AL AND NE, 21 IN MS). VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. THIS IS A CONTEST OF SKILL. WINNERS ARE CHOSEN BY JUDGES USING THE CRITERIA BELOW, NOT BY CHANCE.

1. Sponsor. WTF We The Fans ("WTF" or "Sponsor"), 34 West 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001. Contact: Instagram DM to @wtfwethefans.

2. Instagram/Meta release. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram, Facebook or Meta Platforms, Inc. By entering, each entrant fully releases Instagram, Facebook and Meta Platforms, Inc. from all liability connected to this contest, and agrees to hold them harmless. Send questions to the Sponsor, not to Meta.

3. Contest series and entry periods. The contest is a weekly series. Each week is a separate contest with its own entry period, judging and prize.

• Each entry period opens Sunday at 10:00 PM ET and closes the following Wednesday at 10:00 AM ET, after Monday Night Football, so that bad beats from Monday Night Football count.
• First entry period: Sun Nov 15, 2026, 10:00 PM ET to Wed Nov 18, 2026, 10:00 AM ET.
• Last entry period: Sun Dec 27, 2026, 10:00 PM ET to Wed Dec 30, 2026, 10:00 AM ET. That is 7 weekly contests. The Sponsor may add weeks by posting updated dates on the rules page.
• The Sponsor's clock is the official timekeeper.

4. Eligibility. You must be a legal resident of the 50 US states or D.C. who has reached the age of majority in your state of residence (18+, 19 in AL and NE, 21 in MS) when you enter, hold the fantasy team in your entry, and have a free WTF account (sign up at wtfwethefans.com; no purchase or payment needed). One WTF account per person. Not eligible: employees, contractors and agents of the Sponsor, and their immediate families and household members.

5. How to enter. A free WTF account is required for every entry, by either method. Each method is free and is treated exactly the same in judging.

• Method A, Instagram DM: Send a direct message to @wtfwethefans during the entry period with (1) one or two screenshots of a fantasy matchup you lost from games played that week (the NFL week that ends during the entry period), (2) one or two sentences on why it hurt, and (3) the email address on your WTF account. WTF accounts are free at wtfwethefans.com. The WTF team checks that the account exists before the entry counts; a DM without a matching WTF account is not a valid entry.
• Method B, site form, no Instagram account needed: Sign in to your free WTF account and fill in the entry form at wtfwethefans.com/badbeat during the entry period with the same screenshot(s) and story. The entry is linked to the WTF account you are signed in with.
• Limit: one entry per person, and per WTF account, per weekly contest in total, across both methods. Extra entries are disqualified. Each person can win only one time across the series; entries from a person who has already won are not eligible.
• What can be entered: season-long or free-to-play fantasy leagues (ESPN, Yahoo, Sleeper, NFL Fantasy, etc.). Sportsbook bets, parlays, and paid daily fantasy contest slips are not eligible. Please crop out league dues or dollar amounts.
• Entries have to be your own original screenshots of real results. Don't send edited or fake screenshots, or anyone else's team. Hide other people's full names if you want, and WTF will blur any visible names before posting.
• Following, liking, sharing or tagging is not required, and doing so does not improve your chances.

6. Judging. The judges are the WTF team and Jack Esses. Judging happens in two stages, and both use the same criteria:

• Stage 1, shortlist: the WTF team judges score every eligible entry that week against the criteria above and, by the end of the Wednesday the entry period closes, shortlist up to 3 finalists (the top 3, or every eligible entry if there are fewer). Ties for a shortlist spot go to the higher Pain score, then the higher Story score.
• Stage 2, winner: Jack Esses, acting for the Sponsor, scores the finalists against the same criteria and picks the winner, the finalist with the highest score. If two finalists tie, the higher Pain score wins, then the higher Story score. Ties are never broken by chance.
• Fewer than 3 eligible entries: if a week has only 1 or 2 eligible entries, all of them are finalists, and the judges pick the winner from them using the same criteria and tie-breaks, with Jack Esses making the final pick.
• No eligible entries: if a week has no eligible entries, no prize is awarded that week and its prize carries over to the next weekly contest, whose winner receives one additional $50 Amazon.com Gift Card* for each carried-over week. If the last weekly contest has no eligible entries, its prize and any prize carried over into it are not awarded.
• Any Instagram Story polls are for fan fun only and do not decide the winner.
• The Sponsor's judging decisions are final.

7. Prize. Each weekly winner gets one $50 Amazon.com Gift Card*, delivered by email as a digital code, plus any gift cards carried over under Section 6. Approximate retail value: $50 per gift card. There are up to 7 gift cards in total, including any carried-over prizes, worth about $350 if the series runs 7 weeks. The prize can't be transferred, swapped or exchanged for cash, except that the Sponsor may substitute a prize of equal or greater value. Winners are responsible for any taxes.

*Amazon.com is not a sponsor of this promotion. Except as required by law, Amazon.com Gift Cards ("GCs") cannot be transferred for value or redeemed for cash. GCs may be used only for purchases of eligible goods on Amazon.com or certain of its affiliated websites. For complete terms and conditions, see www.amazon.com/gc-legal. GCs are issued by ACI Gift Cards, LLC, a Washington limited liability company. ©, ®, ™ Amazon.com, Inc. and/or its affiliates.

8. Winner notification and delivery.

• The winner is announced in Instagram Stories and on the rules page on the Thursday after the entry period closes, around 6:00–6:45 PM ET.
• The winner is contacted only by DM from the official @wtfwethefans account, or by email at the address on the winner's WTF account. WTF will never ask for payment, passwords or card details. Beware of copycat accounts.
• The winner has 72 hours to reply, confirming that they are a legal resident of the 50 US states or D.C. who has reached the age of majority in their state of residence (18+, 19 in AL and NE, 21 in MS) and giving an email address for the gift card. If they don't reply in time or aren't eligible, the next-highest-scoring finalist wins.
• The gift card code is emailed within 7 days of confirmation.

9. License to your entry. By entering, you confirm that the screenshot and story are yours to share. You also give WTF a free, non-exclusive right to post, crop and blur your entry (with your IG handle or first name and last initial) on WTF's Instagram, website and newsletter, for this contest and for promoting it. You can ask to be credited anonymously.

10. Disqualification. The Sponsor may disqualify any entry that is fake, edited, offensive, hateful, sexual, harassing, betting-related, someone else's, or otherwise against these rules or Instagram's terms. It may also disqualify anyone who tampers with the contest or uses multiple accounts.

11. General terms. The Sponsor isn't responsible for lost, late or unreadable entries, DMs or emails that don't arrive, or technical failures. If the contest can't run as planned, the Sponsor may change, suspend or end it by posting notice, and may judge entries already received. By entering, entrants release the Sponsor (and Instagram/Meta and Amazon) from claims connected to the contest or prize, except where the law doesn't allow it. These rules are governed by the laws of the State of New York. Any dispute will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in New York County, New York.

12. Privacy. Information you send, and the WTF account details linked to your entry (name, email address and account ID), are used to run the contest and as described in the WTF privacy policy at wtfwethefans.com. Entering does not sign you up for marketing email. Screenshots uploaded through the site form are stored privately and seen only by the WTF team and the judges, unless posted as described in Section 9. Entries, including screenshots, are deleted 90 days after the contest series ends, except the winners list and any winner records the law requires the Sponsor to keep. Winners are announced publicly as described in Section 8, and entries, including winners' bad beats with their IG handle or first name and last initial, may be posted publicly as described in Section 9.

13. Winners list. The winners list is posted on wtfwethefans.com/badbeat, or you can request it by Instagram DM to @wtfwethefans within 60 days after the series ends.