Terms of service

1. What mainmarket is

mainmarket runs contests. We run them on sports first, and on other subjects when we find one worth running. They are free to enter: no purchase or payment is ever required to enter or win, and paying us anything will never improve your chances. This is a sweepstakes-style promotion, not gambling, and nothing on the site is a wager or an offer to bet. Each contest has its own Official Rules, published before it opens, that say what kind of contest it is, how it is scored, what it pays and who may enter; where these Terms and a contest's Official Rules differ, the Official Rules govern that contest.

2. Your account

Your email address is your account; there is no password. You must be 18 or older and a legal resident of the United States to enter a contest. One account per person. Creating extra accounts, entering on someone else's behalf, or using automation to enter is a violation of these terms and voids your entries. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, and we'll tell you why.

3. Playing

Your entry can be changed until the contest locks at the time shown on the contest. After that it is final. Scoring follows each contest's Official Rules and the official result source named in them. If an event a contest depends on is postponed or cancelled, that contest's Official Rules say what happens. Scoring questions must be raised within 48 hours of the contest's final by emailing hey@mainmarket.com; after review, our decision is final.

4. Prizes and payment

Prizes are funded by mainmarket or by a sponsor, as the contest says, and paid by Axe LLC, the company that runs mainmarket. Before paying, we'll confirm you're eligible and may ask you to verify your identity. Winners of $600 or more in a calendar year must complete a W-9 before payment; you are responsible for any taxes.

To be paid, the email address on your entry has to be confirmed. It counts as confirmed if you signed in with a code we emailed you, clicked a link in one of our emails, entered another mainmarket contest from that address, or confirmed it with us at any time in the past. If none of those has happened, confirming it is the first thing we'll ask you to do.

When you win, we email the address on your entry and ask you to confirm it and tell us where to send the prize. We try up to four times, starting the day after the contest closes. If you have not confirmed within 14 days of the close, you forfeit the prize and it passes to the next player on the final leaderboard, in finishing order, who then has 14 days from our first email to them; we keep going down the board until someone claims it. Verified winners are paid within 3 business days of confirming. Prizes aren't transferable and can't be substituted. The 14 days applies to contests that close on or after the effective date of these terms; a contest that closed before it keeps the 30 days we promised then.

5. Sponsors, email and texts

Some contests are presented by a sponsor, and it says so on the contest. By entering a contest you agree to receive contest emails from mainmarket (your code, confirmation, kickoff, results), emails from Highlights, a mainmarket brand, and, when a contest is sponsored, marketing emails from that sponsor; the sentence next to the entry button names who will email you. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing never affects your entry. If you invite someone by email, you confirm you know them, and we'll create a mainmarket account for their address, email them your invite, and add them to Highlights' emails; they can unsubscribe at any time.

You also agree that mainmarket may rent, sell, licence or otherwise disclose your email address, and the fact that you play contests here, to other companies so they can market to you, including through co-registration, list rental, list management and similar arrangements. Entering is what gives that agreement: the line next to the entry button says you agree to these terms and the Privacy Policy, and this is in both. It covers every contest you have entered, including ones you entered before these terms took effect. Those companies email you themselves, under their own privacy policies, and you unsubscribe with them. You can stop us passing your address on at any time by turning off "Share my email with marketing partners" in your profile or by emailing hey@mainmarket.com; it takes effect within 30 days and never affects your entry or a prize you have won. Details are in the Privacy Policy.

Texts are opt-in and separate from entering. If you text us at the number shown on a contest page, you agree to receive text messages from mainmarket about that contest and future ones: a confirmation when your phone is linked, a text after each slate of games on game day with how your picks did and your rank, and a text when a new contest opens, about five texts a week in season. The code in the message our button prefills, or texting PICKS, links your phone number to your account. Texts from us are free; your carrier's message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to any text to stop them, HELP for help, and SCORE for your score, your rank (shared with anyone level with you), how far you are off the lead and how many games are left. Stopping texts never affects your entry or a prize you have won.

6. Your display name

Your display name appears on leaderboards and share cards. It must not impersonate a person, team, sponsor or mainmarket, and must not be offensive. We may rename an account that breaks this rule; you can change your name any time from your profile.

7. What you can't do

Don't use bots, scripts or scrapers on the site; don't try to enter more than once; don't interfere with scoring, other players or the service; and don't use the site for anything illegal. That's the whole list.

8. Ours and theirs

The mainmarket name, mark and site are ours. Team, league, event and personality names are used only to identify what a contest is about and imply no affiliation, sponsorship or endorsement by any team, league, conference, organisation or person named. Sponsor logos and creative belong to the sponsor. You can share contest pages and share images freely; that's what they're for.

9. Things we don't promise

The service is provided as is. We work hard to keep scores accurate and the site up while results come in, but we can't guarantee either, and we aren't liable for lost entries, delays, data-feed errors or anything indirect. To the extent the law allows, our total liability to you is limited to the prize you were owed, or $100 if you weren't owed one. Some states don't allow these limits, in which case they apply only as far as the law permits.

10. Disputes

Talk to us first: hey@mainmarket.com, and we'll try to sort it out within 10 days. If we can't, disputes are resolved by the state or federal courts located in Michigan, under the laws of the State of Michigan, and not as part of a class action.

11. Changes and contact

If we change these terms in a way that matters, we'll email you and update the date at the top; contests already locked stay under the terms they locked under. Questions: hey@mainmarket.com. Axe LLC, 6051 Brookstone Lane, Grand Blanc, MI.