Ken Jennings ‘Jeopardy! Masters’ Gets Premiere Date

ABC has released some big new premiere dates for its popular game show lineup. This includes Ken Jennings’s gig hosting Jeopardy! Masters and Pat Sajak’s final bow as the Celebrity Wheel of Fortune host. The good news is that both shows will kick off the same day, with one following the other.

Here is what you need to know about the next Jeopardy! Masters season and what to expect from that prestigious tournament.

Jeopardy! Masters Premiere Date Revealed With Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune

ABC released the premiere date for both shows. For Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, this has been a mystery since the first episode aired in December 2024. That episode saw Pat Sajak return one last time to host the special spinoff series, and it was a Christmas-themed episode. However, nothing has been announced since that standalone episode.

Pat Sajak and Vanna White will reunite for Celebrity Wheel of Fortune on Wednesday, April 30, at 8 p.m. EST. The new season of Jeopardy! Masters will air at 9 p.m. EST immediately following Celebrity Wheel of Fortune. Both will air that night on ABC and stream on Hulu the next day.

This is the third annual Jeopardy! Masters tournament, and it features a large group of top-ranked contestants. These players compete in two games each episode. The winner takes home a $500,000 grand prize.

Ken Jennings will host the special tournament. It includes the returning finalists from this year’s Tournament of Champions, the three finalists from the Invitational Tournament, last year’s Masters Champion and runner-up, and a special invite for the all-time Jeopardy! winnings record holder.

Who Is In Jeopardy! Masters 2025 Tournament?

The Jeopardy! Masters tournament will feature several big-time champions. This year’s tournament has nine players instead of the six that usually compete (via The Jeopardy! Fan). It also includes one of the biggest winners in the game show’s history.

First up, the three finalists in the 2025 Tournament of Champions are all invited. This includes:

• Victoria Groce, reigning Masters champion
• Yogesh Raut, Masters 2024 runner-up
• Neilesh Vinjamuri, 2025 Tournament of Champions winner
• Adriana Harmeyer, 2025 Tournament of Champions finalist
• Isaac Hirsch, 2025 Tournament of Champions finalist
• Matt Amodio, 2025 Invitational Tournament champion
• Roger Craig, 2025 Invitational Tournament finalist
• Juveria Zaheer, 2025 Invitational Tournament finalist
• Brad Rutter, Jeopardy!’s all-time winnings record holder

The ninth person is Brad Rutter, making his first Jeopardy! appearance since he was in the 2020 Greatest of All Time tournament. That tournament was the first time he had ever lost a Jeopardy! match against a human opponent. Brad is the third-highest-earning American game show contestant of all time. His $5.153 million earnings is third behind Ken Jennings ($5.296 million) and David Genat ($5.8 million). Genat is from Deal or No Deal Island.

Are you excited to see this year’s Jeopardy! Masters tournament on ABC? Are you excited that you can see it back-to-back with the return of Pat Sajak to the Wheel of Fortune stage? Do you think Brad Rutter will win this year’s tournament, or could one of his competitors pull an upset? Let us know in the comments below.

Shawn S. Lealos has been a freelance writer for over 25 years and is a voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He is also a published author with a book about the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers.

Latest posts by Shawn Lealos (see all)