The Contest

Professor DW’s “Quest for the Cup” contest gives you a rooting interest in the upcoming Soccer World Cup beginning June 11th. The contest is simple you will choose one team from each of the 4 pods to give you 4 teams to root for to try and capture the very 1st “Quest for the Cup” contest from Professor DW.

The 4 pods will be the following:

Pod 1: Hosts and Favorites
Pod 2: Contenders
Pod 3: Underdogs
Pod 4: Longshots

This gives you an entry from all aspects of the 48 teams entered to compete as there are 12 teams to choose from in each pod. Be sure to select only ONE team from each pod or you will be disqualified.

There is a scoring system that will determine the winners with a tie breaker of a guess of the complete total of all the matches official combined scores.

Top 5 winners will receive cash prizes from $100 down to $20 and the Champion also gets a pair of tickets to the Austin FC at Seattle Sounders match on August 19, 2026.

For complete rules and details see below the entry form.

**REMINDER, you MUST fully complete the entry form or your entry will be disqualified. Good Luck everyone in Professor DW’s Quest for the Cup!

 

 

Official Rules for Professor DW’s “Quest for the Cup” contest!

Eligibility 

1. This contest is 100% free of charge and you must be at least 18 years of age to participate.
2. Employees and active contractors of Eli Sports Network are not eligible to win. They may participate but are ineligible to win prizes.
3. Contestants are allowed 1 entry per person.
4. Entries are due Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at 6pm Pacific Time.
5. You must FULLY complete the entry information. If your entry is incomplete, you will be disqualified from the contest.
6. To select your 4 teams select 1 team from each of the four pods. If you select more than one team in a pod your entry is disqualified.
7. Be sure to complete the tie-breaker guess of total final score for all 104 matches to be played. This includes the score from the winning team, the losing team and ties. If you do not complete the tie-breaker, you are not disqualified but if you end up in a tie you automatically lose.

Contest Rules

1. Pick one team from each of the 4 pods. Picking more than 1 team in a pod will get you disqualified. If you pick fewer teams you are not disqualified but clearly at a disadvantage.
2. Quest contestants will earn points for how their selected teams do in all of their games.
3. In the Group stage where each of the 4-team groups play a round-robin style 3 matches to get to 32 teams. Your teams will earn 3 points for a group stage win and 1 point for a tie. 
4. Points for Round of 32 to Championship, there are no ties from the round of 32 to the champion: Round of 32 wins 5 points, Round of 16 wins 7 points, Round of 8 wins 9 points, Semifinal win 11 points, 3rd place teams 13 points, 2nd place team 15 points and if your team is the Champion 25 points.
5. All points will count toward each contestants total point count. The highest point total wins. The next highest will get 2nd and so on to 5th place. Any ties see tiebreaker rules.

Tie-Breaker

The tie-breaker is guessing the total final scores of all 104 matches. Scores will include both the winners score and losers score and all ties from the Group Stage. This is the official final score of each match so remember any games that are decided by a shoot-out the winner of the shoot-out is awarded 1 to win the game. For example, if teams go to a shoot-out because they are tied 1-1 after regulation and one team beats the other 6-5 in PK goal kicks the official final score is 2-1, NOT 7-6. Do not add in shootout PK kicks, ONLY the official final score count.

And as usual, the Price is Right rule is in effect and you can’t go over. So if someone guesses 500 and they are tied with someone who guessed 1 and the total was 499, the guess of 1 would win because they did not go over, despite the 500-guess missing by just 1. 

You may enter fractions if you so choose. You may guess 499.5 for example.

If all guesses involved in a tie-breaker are over then the closest one would win. If there is still a tie then the prize(s) will be split evenly between the winners except for 1st place. If there is a potential tie for 1st place then the contestants still in the running will be contacted for additional tie-breaking questions until there will be a clear winner and 2nd place finisher.

If you do not enter a tiebreaking guess then if you end up in a tiebreaker you automatically lose despite if the other’s guess is over or not. Any guess will beat no guess.

Zero is a legitimate guess but you must write in 0 or zero. A blank guess does not automatically get 0.

Prizes

1. Winners are responsible for claiming all winnings and taxes.
2. Grand Prize is two tickets to the Austin FC at Seattle Sounders home match in Seattle on August 19, 2026 plus a $100 cash. 
3. 2nd Place is $80 cash. 
4. 3rd Place is $60 cash. 
5. 4th Place is $40 cash. 
6. 5th Place is $20 cash.

*Sounders tickets will be transferred to the winner from Eli Sports to the winner through e-mail. The winner will then be able to load the electronic tickets onto their phone for entry.

See ticket location at the bottom of this page.

Judges Decision is Final

Any and all decisions not covered within the rules will be made by the judges and that will be the final ruling.

Receiving and Forfeiture of Prizes

Contestants must provide proper address to ESN to receive their prize via mail. They must provide best contact information to transfer tickets to their possession. Or they must make arrangements to pick up their prize in person at the offices of the Eli Sports Network in Centralia, WA.

If a contestant has not provided proper mailing or delivery instructions or have arranged to personally pick up their prize(s) by the following deadline then they automatically forfeit all prizes and compensation due them from winning the FREE Professor DW Quest for the Cup Contest.

Deadline to claim all prizes is Friday, August 14, 2026.