Jeopardy! champion Sam Kavanaugh reveals ‘big challenge’ for show’s future after ‘discouraging’ season

JEOPARDY! champion Sam Kavanaugh has given producers a piece of his mind about the game show’s direction in a rare interview with The U.S. Sun.

The Minnesota-based substitute teacher went on a five-day winning streak in 2019 and won the Tournament of Champions in 2021.

Sam Kavanaugh – who won the Tournament of Champions – opened up about the current state of Jeopardy! to The U.S. SunCredit: Quadra Productions

He urged Jeopardy! – hosted by Ken Jennings – to have fewer tournamentsCredit: Jeopardy!

‘Now that they’re back into regular play, this is sort of the big challenge,’ he sharedCredit: ABC
Most recently, Sam participated in the first-ever Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament (JIT) in 2024, reaching the semifinals.

But the JIT – a mini-tournament of all-time show greats – was the last in a barrage of tournaments that dominated Season 40.

Sam opened up about competing in the JIT earlier this year and urged producers to strike a better balance between tournaments and regular shows.

“That series of all the different tournaments and everything, I think a certain segment of the viewership are people who see themselves up there,” Sam told The U.S. Sun over Zoom.

“So, when you’re seeing that there aren’t new people up there, I’m sure that felt discouraging for a lot of people.”

‘THE BIG CHALLENGE’

Two-thirds of last season was devoted to past-player tournaments instead of introducing fresh faces.

The tournament overload was partly a workaround for the fall WGA strike and partly an attempt to expand into a more sports-like model.

But with only four months of regular episodes, viewers got fed up, flooding social media with complaints about “tournament fatigue.” A recent Reddit thread questioned if Season 40 was the “worst ever.”

Brand-new players only appeared from April until the end of the season, which wrapped on Friday, July 26.

“Now that they’re back into regular play, and this is sort of the big challenge: Balancing the people who are coming back, old favorites, some of those familiar faces and people who have perfected the game and that sort of spirit of anyone off the street,” Sam continued.

“People watch it and prepare for it, that’s a big part of the audience.

“There’s a lot of latent talent out there; I hope that for everyone’s sake, the show is able to [find that balance] and continue to grow in that direction.”

Sam emphasized that the bread and butter of Jeopardy! is still watching regular people turn out to be trivia titans.

“One of the joys of the show is, ‘oh, you’re a waiter,’ and you watch them do well, and it’s super affirming.”

Jeopardy! producers seem to have gotten the memo and have stated they’re decreasing tournament play in Season 41, which premieres September 9.

They’re pushing the next Tournament of Champions and qualifying events to winter 2025, with Second Chances, Wildcards, and JITs not taking up as much time.

The next ToC will be held in the winter instead of kicking off the season. It will feature players from Season 40 and the first half of Season 41, with many more months of regular play first.

‘HEARTENING’ CHANGE

Sam also spilled some behind-the-scenes secrets about changes made during the most recent season.

Fans might recall the rule requiring players to say the entire name of a category every time they selected a clue.

Sam shared that he and his fellow JIT contestants flat-out refused to follow the rule, leading to its quick removal.

Sam also applauded a positive change in Season 40, which he said went under-discussed: increasing consolation prizes to $3,000 and $2,000.

“Going forward, I do have a lot of faith in how they run things,” he said, referring to ambitious new Executive Producer Michael Davies.

“One particular example that slid under the table a little bit under Michael Davies’ tenure is they increased the consolation prizes.

“There wasn’t really pressure to do that I think it was just the right thing to do.

“It’s really heartening to see that because if you have someone coming in with plenty of money and time, that is not an issue.

“But if someone is a single parent, working an hourly job, you’re losing money when it’s $1,000 for the third place consolation prize.

“That used to discourage a lot of people to try out. For me, I would have lost money in 2019 if I placed third.

“That was really good and shows they’re thinking how to cultivate a good contestant pool.”

‘FIELD OF DREAMS MOMENT’

Sam has a unique perspective, having competed under three hosts: Alex Trebek, guest host Buzzy Cohen (who hosted his ToC with aplomb), and current host Ken Jennings.

His Tournament of Champions was the first after Alex’s death and was held without an audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was also the last to feature its tried-and-true model of 15 players, which Sam said he still prefers overall.

But Sam isn’t opposed to Jeopardy! becoming “more like sports”—that’s how he watches the show. He competes in every game with a practice buzzer in his living room as if he’s up there.

Sam, who is known for his extremely aggressive Daily Double style a-la James Holzhauer, admitted he wasn’t at his best for the JIT.

He only received three weeks’ notice and was dealing with a back injury.

He noted: “Ken is growing in his own direction, which is really good.

“I couldn’t lock into his rhythm as well, and I had just injured my back, which was unideal.”

Despite these setbacks, he cherished being part of the JIT, which brought together game show from Jeopardy!’s 60-year history, ultimately won by Victoria Groce.