The Jeopardy! Season 40 "road map"

There continues to be confusion and misunderstanding about how the current season of Jeopardy! will unfold. Here, I'll lay it out in detail. This page will be updated as new information becomes available.

With the Tournament of Champions complete, the "flow chart" image that was previously at the top of this page no longer applies. (For posterity, it is here.)

Here's a calendar image of what has aired this season.

And finally, three tables that lay out the nitty-gritty of everything in full detail. In the "Status" column, ✅ indicates portions of the season finished, while ⭕ denotes the section currently airing.

WGA strike replacement programming

Event	Eligible players	Format	Air dates	Tape dates	Status
Fall 2023 Second Chance	Season 37 non-winners (27)	Three fields, each: 9 players, 5 episodes Three semifinals, two-game total-point final	September 11-15	August 15	✅
			September 18-22	August 16	✅
			September 15-29	August 17	✅
Fall 2023 Champions Wildcard	Season 37 & 38 1, 2, and 3 game winners (101) Fall 2023 Second Chance winners (3) Fourth place in the 2022 Jeopardy! National College Championship (1)¹ High-placed non-winners from the 2021 Professors Tournament (3)²	Four fields, each: 27 players, 14 episodes Nine quarterfinals, three semifinals, two-game total-point final	October 2-19 ("Spades")	August 29-31	✅
			October 20-November 8 ("Diamonds")	September 12-14	✅
			November 9-28 ("Clubs")	October 17-19	✅
			November 29-December 18 ("Hearts")	November 6-8	✅

¹ Isaac Applebaum was the lowest scoring of the four National College Championship semifinal winners, which eliminated him. He was originally going to return for Second Chance in October 2022, but was a last-minute scratch from that competition. He competed in the Diamonds section.
² First runner-up Ed Hashima competed in the Clubs section; second runner-up Alisa Hove and semifinalist Gary Hollis played in Hearts.

The "postseason" — originally scheduled for the start of the season

Event	Eligible players	Format	Air dates	Tape dates	Status
Winter 2024 Second Chance	Season 39 non-winners (34) Season 35 Teen Tournament non-advancing quarterfinalists who didn't play in the S39 High School Reunion Tournament (2)	Four fields, each: 9 players, 5 episodes Three semifinals, two-game total-point final	December 19-25	November 28	✅
			December 26-January 1	November 29	✅
			January 2-8	December 5	✅
			January 9-15	December 6	✅
Winter 2024 Champions Wildcard	Season 39 1 and 2 game winners (50)¹ Winter 2024 Second Chance winners (4)	Two fields, each: 27 players, 14 episodes Nine quarterfinals, three semifinals, two-game total-point final	January 16-February 2	January 3-5	✅
Winter 2024 Champions Wildcard			February 5-22	January 17-19	✅
2024 Tournament of Champions	27 players, to include: Season 39 3+ game winners (19) 2022-23 Celebrity Jeopardy! winner (1) 2023 High School Reunion Tournament winner (1) Fall 2023 Champions Wildcard winners (4) Winter 2024 Champions Wildcard winners (2)	Nine quarterfinals, three semifinals First-to-three-wins final series (thus, maximum length is seven games)	Start: February 23 First game of final: March 12 Last game of final: March 19	February 6-9	✅

¹ Per a report from The Jeopardy! Fan, untelevised, no-prize-money "play-in" games will be used to eliminate Season 39 1- or 2-game champions as necessary to reach the appropriate field size for two Champions Wildcard brackets. My thoughts on this.
The report has now been confirmed. According to TuneIn, there will be three play-in games — two for the first Champions Wildcard field, and one for the second. Those games will be released on TuneIn on January 12 and February 2, respectively.
This means that one Season 39 champion will not return for Champions Wildcard; we now know that's Chris Ban.

Following the ToC

Event	Eligible players	Format	Air dates	Tape dates	Status
Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament	27 players, to include: Andrew He, Amy Schneider, and Sam Buttrey, the three non-finalists in the May 2023 Jeopardy! Masters All-time greats from throughout the show's history, who first appeared in 2020 or earlier Winner qualifies into the next Jeopardy! Masters	Nine quarterfinals, three semifinals First-to-two-wins final series (maximum length four games)	Immediately following the Tournament of Champions, starting on March 20 Last game of final: April 9	February 26-28	✅
Regular play	New contestants	Customary; two new challengers each game, winner plays until they lose	Starting on April 10; will run the remainder of the season, until July 26 (78 episodes)	First taping day: March 12	⭕

Additional notes

There were 156 winners of one, two, or three games in Seasons 37 & 38. As noted above, 101 of them returned for Fall 2023 Champions Wildcard. The 55 who did not included:
- 2 three-game champions (winnings: $79,601, $55,000)
- 5 two-game champions (highest winnings $53,200; lowest winnings $17,603; mean $37,922; median $37,400)
- 48 one-game champions (highest winnings $44,401; lowest winnings $1,999; mean $19,273; median $19,751)
The WGA strike was settled on September 25; thus, the first tapings with the writers back in studio were the "Clubs" section of Fall 2023 Champions Wildcard.
Information on the places the season's players are from is available on another page of this site.

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