These ‘Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions’ Contestants Are Fast-Tracked in the Competition

It's one of the longest-running game shows in TV history with a simple twist on the trivia premise: contestants are given answers and must give the appropriate question that prompts this answer.

Jeopardy! originally began airing its daytime version of the show on NBC back in March of 1964 and has still been running since that time.

Throughout the years, recurring players have managed to secure some incredible returning streaks on the program.

Which is where the Tournament of Champions comes in. But how does it work?

Just like its weekday broadcasts, the Tournament of Champions is by Jeopardy! legend Ken Jennings. He still holds the record for the longest winning streak the series has ever seen (74). Additionally, he's also the show contestant with the most non-tournament career earnings of any other contestant at a whopping $2,522,700.

The 2025 Tournament of Champions is an annual occurrence that features the top dogs of Jeopardy!'s previous year. So the folks who won the most games in 2024 since March 19th, 2024's Tournament of Champions will be featured in 2025's showdown.

But some participants who weren't at the top of the game-winning charts for 2024 don't need to worry about not getting a shot at Tournament of Champions glory. That's because there's a Wildcard Tournament, and the winner of that is then able to test their trivia knowledge against the TOC's best of the best.

Moreover, a Celebrity Jeopardy! winner is put into the fray. 2024's Lisa Ann Walter took home the gold for that, but unfortunately she won't be a part of the Tournament of Champions due to scheduling conflicts with Abbott Elementary.

The tournament's first stage starts with quarterfinals matches on January 27, 2025, which will go on until February 3, 2025.

Drew Basile, Adriana Harmeyer, and Isaac Hirsch won't need to take part in these matches as they were the three most accomplished Jeopardy! players of 2024.

Instead, they'll be heading directly to the semifinals on February 4th, 2025.

The semifinals matches will go on until February 6th, 2025. Which then brings viewers to the finals rounds, which begins on February 7th, 2025.

Then, it's just down to the last three players, who will partake in the finals round on February 7, 2025. From there, the first contestant to win three matches will take home the grand price: a whopping $250,000.

The results of Quarterfinal 1, which aired on January 27, 2025, are in: Will Wallace bested Rishabh Wuppalapati and Alison Betts.

Quarterfinal 2, which airs tonight, January 28, 2025 is between Amy Hummel, Grant DeYoung, and David Erb.

On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, Greg Jolin, Weckiai Rannila, and Neilish Vinjamuri are going head-to-head-to-head.

Next up is Quarterfinal 4, which takes place on January 30, and that contest's between Mehal Shah, Ryan Manton, and Will Stewart.

On Friday, January 31, Quarterfinal 5 will take place. Mark Fitzpatrick is going up against Allison Gross and Kevin Laskowski.

February 3 is Quarterfinal 6, and that'll be between Drew Goins, Amar Kakirde, and Lucas Partridge.

From then on, it's anyone's game. Head back to Distractify for more updates on current Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions standings.