Action Network is paying one fan $3,000 to break a basketball curse. Our 20-year study of Halloween-week box scores flagged the arenas most prone to blown leads and ice-cold shooting, and we're sending someone to lift it, on camera, with sage, lucky charms, and a game plan.
Every basketball season, a handful of arenas earn a reputation: blown fourth-quarter leads, ice-cold shooting nights, free-throw chokes in crunch time, buzzer-beaters that land on the wrong side of the scoreboard. Action Network built a 20-year study of late-October and Halloween-week games to find out which buildings actually back that reputation up in the box score, not just in fan folklore.
Now we need someone to do something about it. One winning applicant becomes Action Network's official Hardwood Hex Exorcist for opening week: full ritual gear, sage at the gates, lucky charms in the stands, and an original piece of curse-breaking content to show for it. This isn't about haunting anybody — it's about lifting the hex. Applicants are encouraged, though not required, to target a building our research flags as cursed; judges are scoring creativity and execution either way.
This is a skill-based promotional competition, not a sponsorship by or affiliation with any basketball league, team, or venue.
Get yourself to an eligible professional basketball game during the entry period, October 19–November 7, 2026.
Create original photo or video content at or around the game built around the Hardwood Hex Exorcist concept — a fun, creative, theatrical curse-breaking moment. Costumes, sage, and lucky charms are all fair game, as long as everything clears venue rules and security.
Send your entry through the official Action Network submission channel before 11:59:59 PM ET on November 7, 2026. One entry per person.
The best entries will tie directly to the data. Here's what that could look like at three of the arenas our research flagged.
Houston's field-goal percentage drops 4.5 points during this window, the steepest fall in the top 10. Play it as a deadpan weather report: a giant foam thermometer pointed at the rim, a hair dryer aimed at the hoop pregame to thaw the shooting, and a straight-faced “Cold Rim Advisory” delivered like breaking news.
Dallas blows a 10-plus point fourth-quarter lead more often than any other arena in the top 10, at a 14.3% rate. Circle up in the parking lot with fellow fans around a tombstone reading “10-Point Lead, Rest In Peace,” and chant to keep the lead alive into the final buzzer.
Toronto loses on a buzzer-beater more often than any other arena in the top 10, at a 12.5% rate. Build an oversized “:05” clock, tape a protective ward over the face, perform a mock exorcism on a stopwatch before tip-off, and hand out “anti-buzzer” wristbands to the section.
These are starting points, not requirements. Judges are scoring creativity and execution, not how closely you match the brief.
Submissions outside this window are void.
Open to legal residents of the 50 states or Washington, D.C. Sponsor employees and their immediate families cannot enter.
Paid by bank transfer or another method the Sponsor designates. Winner covers any applicable taxes.
The winner is notified by email within 15 days of the entry period closing, then has 15 days to respond and claim the prize.
This is a skill-based competition judged by a panel selected by the Sponsor. There's no raffle, no random draw — the best curse-breaking wins.
No purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win, and a purchase will not improve your odds. Applications close November 7, 2026 at 11:59:59 PM ET.
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