PointsBet has announced the return of the Sweep 16 Bracket Challenge at the 2023 PointsBet Invitational, Curling Canada’s first major championship of the new season.

The free-to-play game is available to all residents of Canada – excluding those from Quebec – who are 19 years of age or older at the time of entry, giving them the opportunity to win the $1m grand prize by correctly guessing the outcome of all 30 matches during the single-elimination format event.

The winner will also receive a VIP trip for two to the 2024 PointsBet Invitational, including VIP passes, airfare and hotel accommodations. The runner-up will receive VIP passes for the 2024 event and the remaining top-10 finishers will receive PointsBet Invitational prize packages.

This year’s PointsBet Invitational is taking place at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, with 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams chasing a prize in excess of $350,000, as announced by Curling Canada and PointsBet in February.

Commenting on the renewal of the Sweep 16 Bracket Challenge, Nolan Thiessen, Curling Canada Executive Director of Marketing & Fan Experience, said: “The inaugural PointsBet Invitational was a huge success and we’re excited to build on that momentum with our partners PointsBet by once again offering the opportunity for a fan to use their curling knowledge to win a major prize.

“As we saw at last year’s event, the PointsBet Invitational is difficult to predict and we’re bound to see upsets on the ice again later this month. Make your picks today, share them with your friends on social media and see if anyone can take home the big-money prize this year.”

Meanwhile, on the Friday night, following the “Elite 8” round, there will be a Celebrity Invitational event featuring numerous Canadian celebrities participating in a draw-to-the-button challenge.

“Our ultimate mission for our partnership with Curling Canada remains focused on growing this great game,” added Nic Sulsky, CCO of PointsBet Canada.

“Following a successful inaugural PointsBet Invitational last year, we are excited to deliver innovative fan engagement opportunities yet again with an enhanced Sweep 16 bracket challenge, including new features like allowing users the ability to create private groups for added community connectivity, such as friendly competition among the many proud curling clubs across our great nation.”

Elsewhere, PointsBet Holdings Managing Director and CEO Sam Swanell recently made some interesting observations on the province of Alberta, where the Australian-owned betting and gaming group has held long-term ambitions.