LAS VEGAS — After a record number of contestants were eliminated from a popular Circa football contest, the company is apparently feeling sorry for the losers and offering an “empathy package.”

The $1,000-per-entry Circa Survivor contest started with 14,266 entries. After two weeks of games, there are only 3,877 players left.

With just 27.2% of the original pool left to win the record $14.3 million prize, company officials agreed to introduce the “Circa Survivor Empathy Package.” Players were allowed to enter up to 10 times.

The casino announced Wednesday that any player who lost all their entries in the first two weeks of the season could redeem a two-night midweek stay at the resort and a daybed at Circa’s year-round pool amphitheater, Stadium Swim. Contestants with three or more entries out in the first two rounds can redeem a three-night midweek stay.

The contest involves choosing one NFL team winner per week over the 18-week season, plus two special weeks when there are additional games.

Each week, participants choose a team to win straight up (no point spread), but the player cannot pick the same team twice for the duration of the season.

In the first two weeks of the NFL season, there were upsets galore with the New England Patriots surprising the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 and the New Orleans Saints upending the Dallas Cowboys and the Raiders upsetting the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2. On Monday night, the Atlanta Falcons beat the Philadelphia Eagles to eliminate 785 entries.

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