Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions 2024: Schedule, contestants, format, and everything else you need to know

What is nearly a million dollars?

That’s how much Jeopardy! money South Jersey’s Cris Pannullo will have earned if he wins the quiz show’s annual Tournament of Champions, which kicks off Friday after having been delayed for months due to the Writers Guild of America strike.

Pannullo, a customer-success operations manager from Ocean City, took home $749,268 before taxes during a 21-game Jeopardy! winning streak that ended in December 2022. He ended his run with the sixth-most consecutive wins in the show’s history, dating back to 2003 when a five-game cap was lifted. Only four players in Jeopardy! history have won more money during their original runs.

Among those is Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings, who took home $2,520,700 during his 74-game run in 2004. Jennings will host Tournament of Champions for the second time, and this year’s field will be the largest ever at 27 contestants.

Pannullo and the other contestants are vying for the $250,000 prize for winning, plus an invitation to compete in the Jeopardy! Masters prime time event on ABC scheduled to begin in May. But Pannullo will face some stiff competition that includes 13-game winner Ray LaLonde and nine-game winner Ben Chan, whose run ended due to a single letter being misspelled.

Another contestant TV viewers will likely recognize is actor Ike Barinholtz, probably best known for his roles in The Mindy Project and HBO’s Eastbound & Down. Barinholtz won Celebrity Jeopardy! in its first season as its own show, defeating comedian Patton Oswalt and Star Trek: The Next Generation star Wil Wheaton.

There’s also Melissa Klapper, a historian at Rowan University who managed to land a spot in this year’s tournament despite only winning three games in March. Klapper, who took home $60,100 during her run, will appear on March 4.

“All of these people are really, really good and who I’m sort of dreading playing,” Pannullo said on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast in August. “Jeopardy! is a minefield, and you never know when you’re going to step on that mine.”

While the Tournament of Champions kicks off Friday, Pannullo won’t take the stage until Monday, when he’ll face five-game winner Ben Goldstein and three-game winner Jared Watson.

Here is everything you need to know about Jeopardy!’s 2024 Tournament of Champions:

Jeopardy!’s Tournament of Champions begins Friday, and will air in Philadelphia on 6abc in its normal time slot at 7 p.m.

The syndicated show airs at multiple times across the country, so if you live outside of the Philadelphia area, check your local listing.

The nine quarterfinal matches run though March 6. The remaining nine contestants will compete in the semifinals, with three players moving on to the finals beginning March 12.

The finals are a best-of-seven format, so the first player to win three games will be crowned the tournament’s new champ. If it goes seven games, that would extent the tournament through March 20.

The winner will take home $250,000 and receive an invite to compete in the Jeopardy! Masters prime time event. The grand prize for that tournament is $500,000 and the Trebek Trophy, named after the late Alex Trebek, the show’s host for more than 30 years before his death in 2020.

The Tournament of Champions runner up will receive $100,000, while the third place winner will be awarded $50,000.

Last year’s Tournament of Champion’s winner was Amy Schneider, which moved her up to fifth on Jeopardy!’s career earnings list with $1.6 million.

Actress Lisa Ann Walter, who portrays second-grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti in the Philly-based ABC comedy Abbott Elementary, won the second season of Celebrity Jeopardy! last month, defeating sports host Katie Nolan and podcast host Mo Rocca.

But unlike Barinholtz, Walter won’t be competing in this year’s Tournament of Champions.

Why? Blame the two Hollywood strikes last summer, which created production and scheduling delays that forced Jeopardy! into a unique schedule and pushed the Tournament of Champions to after Celebrity Jeopardy!

Expect Walter to be invited to compete in next year’s Tournament of Champions along with the top winners from season 40.