‘Jeopardy! Masters’ finals: Start time, contestants, and everything else you need to know
Three contestants will face off in two back-to-back games tonight with the first-ever 'Jeopardy! Masters' tournament on the line.
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After nine nights and 18 games of intense quiz-showing, the first Jeopardy! Masters winner will be crowned Wednesday.
Warning: If you didn’t watch Tuesday’s Jeopardy! Masters semifinals, don’t read further or the results will be spoiled.
Three contestants — James Holzhauer, Matt Amodio, and Mattea Roach — will face off in two back-to-back games Wednesday, hosted by former Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings. Whoever ends the night with the highest score will earn the title of Jeopardy! Master.
Tuesday’s semifinals got surprisingly emotional, as Roach revealed that their father, Phillip Roach, died suddenly during the production of Jeopardy! Masters. He was 57.
Roach said the first seven episodes of Jeopardy! Masters were taped before their father died, and he was in the studio to watch the filming of the fourth episode.
“He’s a huge part of the reason I’m here. He and my mom instilled an early love of geography in me. My dad taught me all about Turner Classic Movies and old music and all sorts of things,” Roach said. “So, I wanted to, in what might be my last game of the series, really recognize the impact he had on my life.”
The format of Jeopardy! Masters differed slightly from the original version, using a point system to determine each night’s winner. Holzhauer dominated the semifinals with three wins and nine match points. Roach and Andrew He were tied with two match points after Tuesday’s semifinals, but Roach won the tiebreaker, which was most correct responses.
Jeopardy! Masters also broke with convention to show viewers at home the location of the Daily Doubles. It’s unclear if that wrinkle will make its way to the regular version of Jeopardy! anytime soon.
Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream the Jeopardy! Masters finals:
What time do the Jeopardy! Masters finals start?
The final two episodes of Jeopardy! Masters will air in Philadelphia at 8 p.m. Wednesday on 6ABC.
The three remaining contestants will face off in back-to-back games, hosted by Jennings. The contestant with the highest combined score over both games will win.
Jeopardy! Masters will stream on the ABC app, though it will only be available to those with a cable subscription. ABC is also available on just about every subscription skinny bundle, including YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, fubo, DirecTV Stream, and Sling TV. Most offer a free trial.
If you’re looking to stream the matches for free and you live in or around Philadelphia, your best option is using a digital antenna.
Who are the final contestants in the Jeopardy! Masters tournament?
There are three contestants remaining:
James Holzhauer: The 32-game winner in 2019, Holzhauer holds the record for the most money won in a single game — $131,127. His career earnings on Jeopardy! total $2,962,216, second only to Jennings and Brad Rutter.
Matt Amodio: in 2021, Amodio topped Holzhauer’s streak by winning 38 games, the third most in Jeopardy! history, behind Jennings (74) and Amy Schneider (40). Amodio’s streak occurred after Alex Trebek’s death, so his run featured a number of guest hosts, including Robin Roberts, LeVar Burton, David Faber, and Joe Buck.
Mattea Roach: The Canadian tutor drew worldwide attention during their 22-game win streak in 2022. At 24, she’s the youngest contestant remaining in the Jeopardy! Masters tournament, and the youngest in the top 10 for highest winnings in regular season play ($560,983).
The Jeopardy! Masters tournament started with six contestants. Amy Schneider and Sam Buttrey were eliminated in the opening quarterfinals round after failing to win a single game.
Andrew He advanced to the semifinals, but scored just two match points and was eliminated Tuesday.
What are the Jeopardy! Masters prizes?
The winner of Jeopardy! Masters will walk away with $500,000 and the Trebek Trophy, a node to the show’s longtime host, Alex Trebek, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2020.
“We talked a lot about what the prize should be, if this is a masters tournament, is there a blue jacket like a golf tournament? And we finally decided that we couldn’t do better than naming our cup after Alex Trebek,” Jennings told ABC7 earlier this month. “The stage is now named for Alex and it’s like he’s still there when we’re taping,”
The runner-up in Jeopardy! Masters will be awarded $250,000, while the third-place contestant will walk away with $150,000.
When does the current season of Jeopardy! end?
While Wednesday will mark the end of the Jeopardy! Masters tournament, regular Jeopardy! still has a few months of new episodes in its 39th season.
The final episode of the current season will air July 28. Summer reruns begin July 31.
This season of Jeopardy! wasn’t impacted much by the ongoing writers’ strikes, as all the questions were written in advance. The only real change is Jennings took over the final week of filming after Mayim Bialik chose not to host to stand in solidarity with the striking writers, according to Deadline.
All of Jeopardy!’s writers — including Michele Loud, Jim Rhine, and Billy Wisse — have been striking for nearly a month after their union and major Hollywood studios failed to reach a new contract agreement. It’s unclear how long the strike will go on, and if it’ll have an impact on Jeopardy!’s 40th season, which is scheduled to kick off in September.
“Our words are on the screen every night,” Loud told Variety earlier this month. “There is no Jeopardy! without writers. Without us it’s just an empty blue screen.”