Resources

Overview

Gridiron5 is a modified NFL Pick'em pool where you select the winner of five games of your choice each week - all against the spread. Pools are private and can only be viewed by players who have joined and the viewers they invite. Game matchups, spreads, scores, and standings are all available within Gridiron5.

Creating a Pool

• From the Home screen, tap + Create a Pool. Name your pool and choose your own Player Name.
• Whoever creates the pool becomes its Pool Admin - they invite players, manage the roster, and are responsible for the pool's season fee.
• Gridiron5 generates a Pool ID and Password for you. Share them directly, or send the invite link, which fills in both automatically.
• New pools must be created before the season starts. Pool creation closes 24 hours before the first kickoff of Week 1. Once that deadline passes, no new pools can be created until next season.
• Joining is not affected by that deadline. Existing pools stay open to new players all season long - see Joining a Pool below.
• Players play free. The Pool Admin is invoiced once Week 1 picks lock - see the Pricing page for the current rates. Pools billed in Texas are also charged Texas sales tax.

Joining a Pool

• From the Home screen, tap Join a Pool.
• Enter the Pool ID and Password provided by your Pool Admin, or use the invite link they sent you.
• Enter a Player Name - this is how you'll appear to others in the pool.
• Tap Join Pool to confirm.
• You can join a pool at any time during the season, even after it has started. Weeks that have already locked can't be picked, so a late start means beginning without those weeks' results on your record.

Players

• One Gridiron5 account can have multiple players in the same pool. Each player counts as a separate entry, so you can enter the same pool more than once using a single email address.
• Each player has their own Player Name, weekly picks, record, and standings.
• You can add or change an avatar for each player under Profile.
• Each player makes their own set of weekly picks.

Making Your Picks

• Go to My Picks each week and select the winner of five NFL games from the weekly game schedule.
• Also select one backup game. If one of your five chosen games is cancelled, the backup automatically steps in as your fifth pick.
• To swap a game after all six selections are made, you must unselect a game before choosing a new one.
• If your account has multiple players, select each player and make their picks separately.
• Weekly picks lock five minutes before the first game kicks off. See Deadline below for what happens if your picks aren't complete by then.

Deadline

Picks lock five minutes before the first game of the week kicks off. The first game is typically Thursday night but may fall on a different day during holiday weeks or special NFL scheduling. Check My Picks for game times each week. If you miss it, any picks you haven't made are filled in at random on your behalf and locked - including your backup, and including the remaining slots if you saved only some of your five. Picks you did save are never changed.

Spreads

All picks are made against the spread. Spreads are posted every Tuesday morning and are visible under My Picks. They do not change after being posted, regardless of line movement elsewhere.

The spread is the margin a team must win or lose by to cover. It is deducted from the favorite's final score - or equivalently, added to the underdog's final score - to determine the against-the-spread result.

Every spread includes a half point, so a pick can never end in a tie - each game is always a win or a loss against the spread.

In the example above, Dallas won the game outright but did not cover the spread. A player who picked Miami would win; a player who picked Dallas would lose.

Winning the Week

Win all five of your selected games against the spread and you're a winner for that week. In the Pool view, weekly winners appear at the top, you appear next (your row is highlighted), and the rest of the pool follows in alphabetical order.

Leaderboard

The Leaderboard tracks each player's total wins and losses throughout the regular season. Players are ranked from most to least total wins. Pick % is shown as a supporting statistic and is calculated using completed picks:

Pending games are excluded until they are completed, and cancelled games are excluded entirely. Your row is highlighted so you can find your position quickly.

Players with records that place them among the top three finishers are highlighted. If multiple players are tied within the top three, all players in that tie are included, and the next rank is skipped accordingly. As a result, more than three players may be highlighted, and all three rank numbers may not always appear.

Regular Season Only

Gridiron5 covers the 18-week NFL regular season only. Playoff games are not included. The pool concludes at the end of Week 18.

Navigating Gridiron5

• My Picks - make and view your weekly pick selections.
• Pool - see all player picks for the week. Weekly winners are listed first, then you, then the rest of the pool. Everyone's picks stay hidden until the deadline, five minutes before the first game kicks off.
• Leaderboard - view season standings for all players in your pool.
• Season Archive - browse past seasons: final standings, weekly schedules, and every player's picks from previous years.
• Profile - update your personal information, change your password, add avatars for your players, and invite up to five people per pool to view it without playing.

Each member can invite up to 5 people to view a pool without participating as players. This is useful, for example, when multiple people are playing together under a single player entry but still want to follow the pool’s picks and standings.

To add a viewer, go to Profile → Pool Viewers and enter the email address of the person you want to invite. Viewers can follow picks and standings but can’t submit or change picks. View access is tied to the email address associated with the invitation.

Save Gridiron5 to your phone for quick access all season.

Safari

3 dots → Share → View More → Add to Home Screen

Chrome

Share → View More → Add to Home Screen

Gridiron5 will appear on your Home Screen just like an app.

Last updated: August 19, 2026

This policy describes what information Gridiron5 collects, how it is used, who can see it, and how long it is kept.

1. Information We Collect

What you give us. Your first and last name, your email address, and an optional mobile number. A profile photo if you upload one. A player name for each pool you join, plus the names of any additional players you manage. The picks you submit each week. Any message you send through Contact Support.

Sign-in. Accounts and passwords are handled by Google Firebase Authentication. We do not store your password - Google stores it in hashed form and we never write it to our database. If you sign in with Google, we receive your email address and the name on your Google account; we do not receive your Google password and do not keep Google access tokens. Apple Sign-In is not currently available. Your browser holds a session token so you stay signed in. It refreshes automatically in the background, so you are not asked to sign in again unless you sign out, clear your browser data, or use a different device. We do not store it on our servers.

Payments. Pool admins pay the seasonal fee through PayPal. We do not receive or store card numbers, bank details, or PayPal credentials - only the invoice and the PayPal order reference.

Technical information. We record timestamps for things like account creation, joining a pool, submitting picks, and issuing invoices, and we keep a record of every notification the system sends (type, recipient, pool, week, time, and whether the email was sent). Our server writes diagnostic messages when something fails. Gridiron5 sets no cookies and runs no analytics, advertising, or tracking scripts, and our database holds no IP address, device, browser, or location information.

Server request logs. To diagnose faults, our server can keep a running log of the requests it receives. Each entry records the time, the address requested, whether it succeeded, how long it took, whether a valid sign-in token was attached, the IP address the request came from, and whether it came from a mobile or desktop browser. These entries are written to the server's operational log, not to your account record, and they are not used to build a profile of you, to track you across sites, or for advertising. We use them only to find and fix problems - for example, to tell whether a page that appeared broken ever reached our server at all. This log is normally enabled only in our testing environment or while we are investigating a specific fault, and it is kept for as long as our hosting provider retains server logs. Our hosting and infrastructure providers also keep their own request logs, which typically include IP address and browser information.

2. How We Use Information

• Creating your account and signing you in
• Running pools, recording picks, and calculating and displaying standings
• Sending notifications about your pools, picks, and billing
• Answering support requests
• Issuing and collecting the seasonal pool fee
• Security, troubleshooting, and improving the service
• Keeping the system and audit records needed to show what the platform did and when

3. How Information Is Shared and Displayed

Other players in your pool see your player name, your profile photo, your picks, and your record and position in the standings. They do not see your real name, email address, or phone number.

Picks stay hidden until the weekly deadline - five minutes before the first game kicks off - and are revealed to the pool then. Before that, you can see your own picks on My Picks; the Pool page shows nobody's picks, including yours.

Pool admins additionally see each member's real name, email address, join date, account status, and player names, so they can manage the roster. They do not see phone numbers, passwords, or picks before the deadline, and they have no access to pools they do not run.

Viewers. A player can invite up to five people to view a pool they play in. A viewer sees what players see on the Pool page and the Leaderboard - player names, profile photos, the standings, and picks once each week's deadline passes - but cannot make picks, does not appear in the standings, and receives no notifications from the pool. A viewer never sees the pool password or anyone's real name, email address, or phone number. An invitation works only for the email address it was sent to, and that address must be confirmed before it can be used; the invitation keeps that address on record. The pool admin and Gridiron5 administrators can see every viewer of a pool and remove any of them, the player who invited a viewer can remove them, and a viewer can stop viewing at any time. When a viewer deletes their account, their viewer record is deleted with it.

Authorized Gridiron5 administrators can access accounts, pools, picks, standings, invoices, and system records as needed to operate the service, provide support, and investigate problems.

Gridiron5 does not sell your personal information, and does not use it for advertising or profiling.

Information is processed by the service providers we need to run Gridiron5: Google Firebase for sign-in and our database, Google for outgoing email and page fonts, PayPal for pool fee payments, and our hosting provider. We may also disclose information where the law requires it or to protect the rights and safety of users and the service.

4. Data Retention and Account Deletion

We retain your account information for as long as your account remains active, or as long as needed to provide the service. A deactivated account is retained so it can be reactivated with its history intact. Historical pool information - prior-season picks, results, and standings - is retained as part of the pool's season archive.

You can delete your account yourself, from Profile. This permanently removes your account record, your sign-in credentials, your notifications, and your profile photo, and it cannot be undone. If you run a pool, transfer or delete it first so the pool is not left without an admin.

Your player name and the picks you already made stay with each pool. Standings are calculated from those picks, so removing them would change other players' records and ranks. What remains is a player name and an internal account reference, no longer connected to your name, email, or photo.

Limited records are also retained where we need them for recordkeeping, security, billing, and system integrity: the log of notifications the system sent, with your email address removed; support messages you sent, with your name and email removed; and invoices for pools you ran.

Deleted information may remain in routine system backups for up to 30 days before those backups expire.

5. Security and Age

Gridiron5 uses reasonable administrative and technical safeguards to protect your information. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, passwords are never held by us, every request is checked against your identity and your role for the specific pool involved, and administrative access is limited to a small number of people. No online system can guarantee absolute security, and we do not claim otherwise.

Gridiron5 is intended for people 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from children, and we do not ask for or store a date of birth. If you believe a person under 18 has an account, contact support and we will remove it.

6. Changes and Contact

We may update this policy as the service changes; the Last Updated date above always reflects the current version, and we will give notice in the application before a material change takes effect.

For privacy questions or requests - including access to, correction of, or deletion of your information - use Contact Support in the menu, or email support@gridiron5.com.

Last updated: August 21, 2026

These Terms govern your use of the Gridiron5 website and application. The rules for playing Pick 5 are provided separately in How to Play.

1. Acceptance and Eligibility

By creating an account, signing in, or otherwise using Gridiron5, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use Gridiron5.

You must be 18 or older to use Gridiron5.

2. Accounts and Acceptable Use

You are responsible for your account credentials and for activity under your account. Provide accurate information when registering and keep your email address current so we can send account notices, pool notifications, invoices, and password resets.

Do not share your account or create an account for another person without their knowledge and permission.

When using Gridiron5, you may not:

• Manipulate or attempt to manipulate picks, scores, standings, or results
• Attempt to submit or change picks after they have locked
• Impersonate another player, Pool Admin, or Gridiron5, or register under a false identity
• Exploit a bug, error, or vulnerability instead of reporting it to support
• Attempt to access another account, hidden player picks, a pool you do not belong to, or administrative functions you have not been granted
• Interfere with the platform or other users, including through automated scraping, bulk requests, or misuse of invitations or notifications
• Upload a photo, Player Name, Pool Name, or other content that is unlawful, infringing, obscene, abusive, or otherwise inappropriate
• Use Gridiron5 for any unlawful purpose

3. Gridiron5's Role

Gridiron5 provides software that allows users to create and participate in private football pick pools. We provide and operate the platform; Pool Admins manage their individual pools, including invitations and roster membership.

Gridiron5 charges Pool Admins a seasonal platform fee for use of the software. That fee is separate from any entry fees, stakes, prizes, or other payment arrangements participants may choose to make among themselves.

Gridiron5 does not collect, hold, process, distribute, track, or administer participant entry fees, wagers, pool funds, winnings, or prizes. The platform does not determine who owes money, collect money between participants, or pay prizes.

Any such arrangements are made independently between participants and are outside Gridiron5. We do not sponsor, administer, verify, enforce, or take responsibility for those arrangements, and standings displayed by Gridiron5 do not by themselves create any entitlement to money or a prize.

4. Fees and Payment

Player accounts are free.

A Pool Admin pays a seasonal platform fee for each pool they create. The fee covers that pool for the applicable NFL regular season and is not a recurring subscription. Nothing renews automatically.

The current fee is listed on the Pricing page. Pricing may change for future seasons. The Pool Admin is invoiced once Week 1 picks lock and the pool's season is under way.

Sales tax. You choose a billing state when you create a pool. Pools billed in Texas are charged Texas sales tax on the platform fee, currently 8.25%; pools billed elsewhere are not charged sales tax. Tax is calculated on the fee when the invoice is issued and is shown as a separate line on the invoice and at checkout. You can change the billing state on the invoice at any time before you pay and it will be re-issued. Once an invoice is paid, a correction is handled as a refund.

Fees are non-refundable. No refund or prorated credit will be issued if a pool is deleted, deactivated, or abandoned during a season or if players leave the pool.

Gridiron5 will correct duplicate or erroneous charges and may issue a refund in other circumstances at its sole discretion. Discretionary refunds are not guaranteed.

5. Game Administration and Platform Data

How to Play governs how Gridiron5 works, including picks, deadlines, automatic pick completion, spreads, scoring, rankings, and season play.

Gridiron5 maintains the game schedules, spreads, kickoff times, scores, results, and standings displayed on the platform. Errors or delays may occasionally occur.

We may correct a schedule, spread, score, standing, or other platform data error when necessary. When a correction affects results, related standings may also be recalculated. Once a completed season has been finalized and placed in the Season Archive, its results are not recalculated.

Where information displayed on Gridiron5 differs from another source, Gridiron5's platform records, as corrected by us when necessary, determine the results displayed on Gridiron5.

If these Terms and How to Play differ regarding a game mechanic, How to Play controls. These Terms control matters involving accounts, payments, use of the service, legal rights, and responsibilities.

6. Intellectual Property and NFL Disclaimer

The Gridiron5 name, logo, branding, design, original content, and software are owned by Gridiron5 or its licensors.

You may use Gridiron5 only for its intended purpose. You may not copy, redistribute, modify, reverse engineer, or otherwise misuse the site or its software, or use the Gridiron5 name, logo, or branding without written permission.

Content you provide, such as your profile photo, Player Name, Pool Name, or other information you submit, remains yours. By submitting it, you give Gridiron5 permission to store, process, and display that content as reasonably necessary to provide the service.

Gridiron5 is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the National Football League or any NFL team. NFL and team names, logos, trademarks, and related intellectual property belong to their respective owners and are used only to identify the games and teams involved.

7. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend, restrict, or terminate an account for violation of these Terms, misuse of the service, fraud, security concerns, or unlawful activity.

A pool may also be restricted if its seasonal platform fee remains unpaid after its due date. Pool Admins may remove players from pools they administer.

You may deactivate or permanently delete your account through Profile at any time. Account and data deletion are handled as described in the Privacy Policy.

8. Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

Gridiron5 is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

We do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free service or that schedules, scores, standings, or other information will always be accurate or available immediately.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Gridiron5 and its owners, operators, affiliates, and service providers will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or relating to your use of, or inability to use, Gridiron5.

This includes losses arising from service interruptions, technical errors, delayed or incorrect game data, missed or incomplete picks, unauthorized account access, or disputes between players or Pool Admins.

You are responsible for completing your picks in accordance with the deadlines and procedures described in How to Play.

Where liability cannot legally be excluded, Gridiron5's liability will be limited to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

9. Changes, Governing Law, and Contact

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will update the Last Updated date above. Your continued use of Gridiron5 after revised Terms take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to Gridiron5 or your use of the service are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles.

Any legal action or proceeding must be brought exclusively in the state courts located in Bexar County, Texas, or the federal courts of the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, and you consent to the jurisdiction and venue of those courts.

Questions about these Terms may be submitted through Contact Support in the Gridiron5 menu or by emailing support@gridiron5.com.