NFL 2026 — NFL Margin Pools

NFL Margin Pools

An NFL Margin pool typically keeps the weekly single-team pick format of a Survivor pool, but removes the elimination component. Each week you pick one team. If they win by 10, you gain 10 toward your season total. If they lose by 3, your season-long score is hit with -3. Those margins accumulate all season, and the highest total wins. Nobody is ever knocked out, and a bad week is a setback rather than a wipeout.

Team re-use rules, caps on repeatedly picking against the same opponent, multiple entries and missed-pick insurance are all configurable.

How to set up a NFL Margin pool

1. Decide on team re-useAllow teams to be used freely, once only, or a set number of times across the season. Free re-use turns the pool into a pure best-matchup exercise; limited use forces entrants to be more strategic in their weekly selections.
2. Set opponent usage capsOptionally limit how many times an entrant can pick against the same opponent, so nobody rides one bad defense for the whole year.
3. Choose entries and insuranceOptionally allow multiple entries per person, and decide whether a missed pick gets an automatic assignment or is hit with a negative penalty of some kind.
4. Share your pool and get ready to make some picks!Margins are computed automatically from final scores, and running totals update in the standings as games finish.

Create your NFL Margin pool — free to set up. Payment is due only after your game has kicked off and you are certain ALA's software can provide you with everything you need.

Frequently asked questions

How is a margin pool scored?

Each week you pick one team. Your score for the week is that team's margin of victory, or their margin of defeat as a negative number. A 24-10 win is +14; a 20-23 loss is -3. Those weekly figures add up across the season and the highest total wins.

Can you be eliminated from a margin pool?

No. There are no lives and no eliminations. A bad pick costs points, not your place in the pool, so every entrant is still playing in the final week.

Is a margin pool better than a survivor pool for a small group?

Often, yes. A survivor pool with ten entrants can be over by October, and everyone knocked out stops paying attention. A margin pool keeps all ten engaged through the whole season, and the winner is decided by the accumulated total rather than by who got lucky last.

Can teams be picked more than once?

That is up to the commissioner. Re-use can be unrestricted, banned entirely, or capped at a set number of uses per team across the season.

What happens if someone misses a pick?

A missed pick can either be hit with a fixed negative penalty of a set number of points, a penalty aligned with the worst performing team of the week, or have an insurance/automatic pick assigned to them -- all depending on the pool's configuration.

Compare every format in survivor vs pick'em vs confidence, or look up a term in the sports pool glossary.