Jeopardy! champion James Holzhauer has blasted the game show over its prize money value and not kept pace with inflation over the years. He responded to a tweet about how Jeopardy! has had a “stagnation” it gives away in recent seasons.
Matthew Yglesias, a Bloomsburg columnist, tweeted on November 18, “We need to talk about the nominal stagnation of Jeopardy! prize money.”
Holzahuer then quote-tweeted him with a graph of the Jeopardy! winnings for eight seasons, along with a photo of a man in a hot dog costume. The graph started with Season 33 (2016 to 2017), which had $5,142,060 in winnings. Season 34 grew with $5,607,851.
Then in Season 35, which was Holzhauer’s season, the total winnings were $9,069,465. He set the record for highest single-game winnings in the show’s history with $131,127 and played 33 games in total, according to the Leaderboard of Legends. Holzhauer has won $3,612,216 in total, including tournaments.
After his season, the winnings went down drastically. Season 37 had a total of $4,913,243. The graph showed up to Season 40, in which none of the regular seasons surpassed $6,660,000. However, Celebrity Jeopardy! and Jeopardy! Masters helped seasons 39 and 40 reach over $8,000,000.
Although amounts on Jeopardy! are never certain, due to Daily Double and Final Jeopardy wagers, the amounts on the board haven’t changed since 2001, with the highest being $2,000, according to Game Shows Wiki.
https://t.co/RrrJZr9wzt pic.twitter.com/V3HJHSTNTy— James Holzhauer (@James_Holzhauer) November 19, 2025
Fans agreed with Holzhauer and said a change needs to be made. “We need to index Jeopardy! clues to inflation, for too long have prize show victors been under the yoke of nominal price values,” a X user said.
Related‘Jeopardy! Masters’ Fans Think James Holzhauer Can Save the Show
“Survivor has been $1 million for 25 years lol,” one Holzhauer fan pointed out.
Wheel of Fortune upped its Bonus Round amounts this season by $5,000, seeing amounts like $45,000 and $55,000. They are also having a $500,000 Bonus Round week, starting on November 24.
The Floor gives away $250,000 to the winner and offers $20,000 to the person who has the most amount of floor each week.
However, game shows like Family Feud and Match Game have been stuck at the top prize of $25,000 for a long time.
Do you think Jeopardy! needs to up their prize money? Let us know in the comments.
Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
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