NFL to offer richest fantasy football prize: $1 million - Ingles

The NFL's poised to offer what will be one of the richest, if not the richest, fantasy football jackpot ever: $1 million to the winner.
This article was written by Mike McCarthy and appeared in USA Today.

The league will announce its new "NFL Perfect Challenge" in Indianapolis later today in Indianapolis offering a $1 million grand prize for picking the "perfect" fantasy lineup during any week of the 2012 regular season, according to spokesman Dan Masonson.

Fantasy players can sign up for the free game today at www.nfl.com/fantasy. The league will tout the $1 million prize in a TV commercial airing during NBC's broadcast of Super Bowl XLVI between the New England Patriots and New York Giants Sunday night.

So you think you're a good fantasy football player? Well, winning the million bucks won't be easy. As usual in fantasy football, team owners will field an eight-player roster each week. Then it gets hard. To qualify for the $1 million prize, owners will have to pick that week's highest scoring player at EACH position: one QB; two RB's; two WR's; one Tight End; one Kicker; and one Defense/Special Teams unit.

Each week will be scored separately, evening the playing field between fantasy ringers and beginners. Fans can sign up at any point during the season. There will also be additional prizes offered, including tickets to Super Bowl in XLVII in New Orleans.

The biggest cash prize from ESPN fantasy football is $10,000, says spokesman Bill Hofheimer. ESPN's "Streak for the Cash" contest, which includes multiple sports, also offers a $1 million grand prize

We asked Paul Charchian of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association if there's ever been a richer fantasy football payday. There was a now-defunct football contest that paid $300,000 to the winner in 2009, says the president of LeagueSafe.com.

There have been urban legends circulating for years of Wall Street investment bankers staging private fantasy pools with $1 million payouts. There was a bar in Staten Island, N.Y. that offered a huge prize -- but it was shut down by the New York City Police Department.

Who knows what kind of dough changes hands in Hollywood where stars with too much time and money on their hands seek bragging rights as the best fantasy football player, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

This article was written by Mike McCarthy and appeared in USA Today.