diff --git a/api/v1_events_remix_contests.go b/api/v1_events_remix_contests.go
index 508fa081..d1f9ee20 100644
--- a/api/v1_events_remix_contests.go
+++ b/api/v1_events_remix_contests.go
@@ -18,13 +18,14 @@ type GetRemixContestsParams struct {
 
 // v1EventsRemixContests returns remix-contest events from the events table.
 // Sort priority:
-//  1. Open contests whose host is followed by the Audius account.
-//  2. Open contests whose host is not followed by the Audius account.
-//  3. Ended contests whose host is followed by the Audius account.
-//  4. Ended contests whose host is not followed by the Audius account.
+//  1. Open contests with a featured host.
+//  2. Open contests with any other host.
+//  3. Ended contests with a featured host.
+//  4. Ended contests with any other host.
 //
-// The Audius account is config.Cfg.FeaturedAudienceUserID; 0 disables the
-// follow-based tiebreak (groups collapse to open-vs-ended only).
+// A featured host is verified, is the Audius account, or is followed by the
+// Audius account. The Audius account is config.Cfg.FeaturedAudienceUserID;
+// 0 leaves verified as the only signal.
 // Within each group, results are sorted by entry count descending, then by
 // the active-first / soonest-ending sort, then event_id ASC as a stable tiebreak.
 // Supports pagination and an optional `status` filter (active | ended | all).
@@ -132,9 +133,10 @@ func (app *ApiServer) v1EventsRemixContests(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
 		ORDER BY
 			-- Primary: open (0) before ended (1).
 			CASE WHEN e.end_date IS NULL OR e.end_date > NOW() THEN 0 ELSE 1 END ASC,
-			-- Secondary: Audius-followed hosts (0) before unfollowed (1).
-			-- When @audius_user_id is 0 the tiebreak collapses (all rows score 1).
+			-- Secondary: featured hosts (0) before the rest (1).
 			CASE
+				WHEN u.is_verified THEN 0
+				WHEN @audius_user_id::int4 != 0 AND e.user_id = @audius_user_id::int4 THEN 0
 				WHEN @audius_user_id::int4 != 0
 					AND EXISTS (
 						SELECT 1 FROM follows f
diff --git a/api/v1_events_remix_contests_test.go b/api/v1_events_remix_contests_test.go
index f8f2d97c..a380f5d6 100644
--- a/api/v1_events_remix_contests_test.go
+++ b/api/v1_events_remix_contests_test.go
@@ -490,6 +490,78 @@ func TestRemixContestsFollowFilterIgnoresStaleRows(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+// TestRemixContestsFeaturesAudiusAndVerifiedHosts: a contest hosted by the
+// Audius account or by a verified host sorts ahead of other open contests,
+// even with fewer entries.
+func TestRemixContestsFeaturesAudiusAndVerifiedHosts(t *testing.T) {
+	app := emptyTestApp(t)
+
+	audiusUserID := 9300
+	verifiedHostID := 9301
+	plainHostID := 9302
+	remixerID := 9303
+
+	audiusTrackID := 8601
+	verifiedTrackID := 8602
+	plainTrackID := 8603
+
+	start := parseTime(t, "2024-01-02")
+	inWindow := parseTime(t, "2024-01-03")
+	end := parseTime(t, "2099-01-01")
+
+	fixtures := database.FixtureMap{
+		"events": []map[string]any{
+			{
+				"event_id": 801, "event_type": "remix_contest", "entity_type": "track",
+				"entity_id": plainTrackID, "user_id": plainHostID,
+				"created_at": start, "end_date": end,
+			},
+			{
+				"event_id": 802, "event_type": "remix_contest", "entity_type": "track",
+				"entity_id": verifiedTrackID, "user_id": verifiedHostID,
+				"created_at": start, "end_date": end,
+			},
+			{
+				"event_id": 803, "event_type": "remix_contest", "entity_type": "track",
+				"entity_id": audiusTrackID, "user_id": audiusUserID,
+				"created_at": start, "end_date": end,
+			},
+		},
+		"users": []map[string]any{
+			{"user_id": audiusUserID, "handle": "audius"},
+			{"user_id": verifiedHostID, "handle": "verified_host", "is_verified": true},
+			{"user_id": plainHostID, "handle": "plain_host"},
+			{"user_id": remixerID, "handle": "remixer"},
+		},
+		"tracks": []map[string]any{
+			{"track_id": audiusTrackID, "owner_id": audiusUserID, "created_at": start},
+			{"track_id": verifiedTrackID, "owner_id": verifiedHostID, "created_at": start},
+			{"track_id": plainTrackID, "owner_id": plainHostID, "created_at": start},
+			{"track_id": 8611, "owner_id": remixerID, "created_at": inWindow},
+			{"track_id": 8612, "owner_id": remixerID, "created_at": inWindow},
+		},
+		"remixes": []map[string]any{
+			{"parent_track_id": plainTrackID, "child_track_id": 8611},
+			{"parent_track_id": plainTrackID, "child_track_id": 8612},
+		},
+	}
+	database.Seed(app.pool.Replicas[0], fixtures)
+
+	prev := config.Cfg.FeaturedAudienceUserID
+	config.Cfg.FeaturedAudienceUserID = int32(audiusUserID)
+	t.Cleanup(func() { config.Cfg.FeaturedAudienceUserID = prev })
+
+	status, body := testGet(t, app, "/v1/events/remix-contests")
+	assert.Equal(t, 200, status)
+
+	jsonAssert(t, body, map[string]any{
+		"data.#":          3,
+		"data.0.event_id": trashid.MustEncodeHashID(802), // verified host, 0 entries
+		"data.1.event_id": trashid.MustEncodeHashID(803), // Audius account, 0 entries
+		"data.2.event_id": trashid.MustEncodeHashID(801), // 2 entries
+	})
+}
+
 // TestRemixContestsExcludesUnavailableContent covers server-side filtering
 // of contests whose track or host is not in a publishable state. The
 // frontend used to drop these on the client (the "deleted accounts surface
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index 4a4a5d95..38e48a5e 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -75,10 +75,10 @@ type Config struct {
 	AudiusApiSecret string
 	// Shared secret for notifications-dashboard (or other internal jobs) to read notification campaign push open counts
 	NotificationCampaignOpenMetricsSecret string
-	// Audius account user id. In the public remix-contests list, hosts followed
-	// by this account sort ahead of other hosts within both the open and ended
-	// groups. Zero (the default when the env var is unset) disables follow-based
-	// prioritization (the list reduces to open-before-ended).
+	// Audius account user id. In the public remix-contests list, this account
+	// and the hosts it follows sort ahead of other hosts within both the open
+	// and ended groups. Defaults to the Audius account in prod; zero elsewhere
+	// unless featuredAudienceUserId is set.
 	FeaturedAudienceUserID int32
 
 	// Genesis migration dual-write queue.
@@ -270,6 +270,7 @@ func init() {
 	case "prod":
 		fallthrough
 	case "production":
+		Cfg.FeaturedAudienceUserID = 51
 		Cfg.OpenAudioURLs = []string{
 			"rpc.audius.co",
 		}