‘Jeopardy! Masters’ Season 4: Everything to Know About Two-Week Tournament
Jeopardy! Masters fans, the wait is nearly over! Get your buzzers ready because Season 4 begins on Tuesday, August 25.
Some fans were worried the tournament would not return after Season 3, which aired in 2025, had lower ratings than Season 2. The show features notable Jeopardy! champions who compete against each other in a Champion-League style format.
This year, the tournament will be shortened due to there only being six players. Season 4 will last two weeks as six of Jeopardy!’s highest-ranked current champions will compete for a chance to win $500,000, the Trebek Trophy, and the title of 2026 Jeopardy! Masters Champion. They also get $100,000 donated to the charity of their choice.
Scroll down to learn everything we know about Jeopardy! Masters Season 4, including when it premieres on ABC.
Disney/Christopher Willard
Is Jeopardy! Masters returning for another season?
Yes. ABC announced on June 18 that the series will return for Season 4.
When will Jeopardy! Masters Season 4 air?
The first four episodes of Season 4 will air on ABC from Tuesday, August 25, through Friday, August 28, at 8/7c. Episodes 5 through 8 will air on Tuesday, September 1, through Friday, September 4. The Season 4 finale will premiere on ABC on Tuesday, September 8. New episodes will stream the next day on Hulu.
Who hosts Jeopardy! Masters?
Like all of the other versions of Jeopardy!, aside ESPN Jeopardy! and Pop Culture Jeopardy!, Ken Jennings hosts Masters.
Who will compete on Jeopardy! Masters Season 4?
This season there will be just six competitors, compared with nine in previous seasons. Reigning Jeopardy! Masters champion Yogesh Raut will return alongside finalists Juveria Zaheer and Victoria Groce. Season 4 lineup of competitors also includes 2026 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Paolo Pasco, 2026 Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament winner Andrew He and runner-up Long Nguyen.
What is the episode schedule?
According to the Jeopardy! website, Masters will have 12 quarterfinal games spread over six nights, as there will be two episodes shown per night to make an hour-long show. Then, the top four advance to the semifinals to play four games in two episodes. From there, three competitors advance to the finals, which is a two-game event, resulting in the hour culmination on September 8.
What is the points and prize structure?
Until the finals, the competitors will be awarded points based on their performance in the game. The winner receives three points. Second place receives one point. Third place gets no points.
Contestants who are not eligible to compete in Final Jeopardy! will automatically receive zero match points for that game. Match points reset after the quarterfinals, meaning the semifinals will start with each of the players at zero match points. Up until the finals, eliminations and prizing will be determined by cumulative match points, with the finals being determined by traditional dollar value scores: a two-game total point affair.
If there is a tie in match points by the end, the number of wins is taken into account. If that is still a tie, then cumulative correct responses and score will be looked at.
What do the contestants get?
No one goes home empty-handed, even if they don’t win. Here is what each player receives:
1st Place – $500,000, the Jeopardy Masters! trophy, $100,000 donated to their charity, and the glory of winning
2nd Place – $250,000
3rd Place – $150,000
4th Place – $100,000
5th Place – $75,000
6th Place – $50,000
Who are the previous winners of Jeopardy! Masters?
James Holzhauer, 32-game champion, won Season 1, while Groce, Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament winner, took the title for Season 2. Raut, the 2024 Tournament of Champions winner, won Season 3.
Jeopardy! Masters, Season 4 premiere, Tuesday, August 25, 8/7c, ABC
Conversation7 Comments
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L
So you removed my comment calling out this person’s racism but haven’t removed THIS comment. Wow. Just wow. You’ll probably remove this comment, too.
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B
"There's way too many" ???? But "no racial offense here" you say. SMH
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A
My problem with this roster is they are a pretty unlikable group. Yogesh and Groce are especially off-putting.
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Y
If you're talking about TOC eligibility, then I agree. Even though past was the past, he should've at least gone through Champions WC first.
Still, Masters: Season 3 (last year) was equally unfair due to unclear qualifications. Last year's TOC and JIT finalists---not just the winner, but every finalist---entered Masters. Also, Brad Rutter was given a protected-status-like wildcard to substitute for James Holzhauer.
I'm fine with Brad's case, since he has already proved his prior success AND every eligibility, but not for Yogesh, as there was nothing special about Yogesh for Yogesh not to go through Champions WC first.
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A
Why is Yogesh in the mix when he never won the required 5 game streak to qualify for the Tournament play? Total fixed rigged nonsense.
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Y
Sounds like more time was needed to decide how to move forward with the upcoming Masters, and turns out that we're going to see a similar schedule to that of Season 2: a condensed one; and back to 6 contestants (well, that was also the case for Season 1). Like Season 2, only the 2nd-place finisher in JIT fills the remaining 6th spot. I'm fine with that, but not last year's confusing lineup.
Now onto predictions: Just comparing overall TOC stats, Paolo Pasco's are similar to Yogesh, which made me initially think Paolo could potentially enter the finals (we'll see). However, he's not quite at elite level in World Quizzing yet. Victoria Groce ("The Queen") just gets better and better, so I'm 90% positive that she'll re-claim the title this season. Other than that, maybe we'll have a more diverse finale this time?
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