For almost as long as Jeopardy! has existed, sports fans have yearned for a version to call their own. And the concept is making a comeback thanks to ESPN and Disney+ with Joe Buck at the helm.
According to a report from Ryan Glasspiegel at Front Office Sports, the new ESPN Jeopardy! is slated to be hosted by the Monday Night Football play-by-play man and stream on Disney+ and Hulu this summer. In addition, it could see some shows air on linear television on ABC.
Game shows are a go-to product for television networks during the summer months and ABC has leaned heavily into the concept with returning classics like Match Game, Press Your Luck, and The $100,000 Pyramid.
The idea of sports-centric Jeopardy! also isn’t new. Dan Patrick hosted a version on Crackle for three seasons featuring 116 total episodes.
This won’t be Joe Buck’s first rodeo when it comes to hosting the iconic game show. He served as a guest host in 2021 after the passing of Alex Trebek that infamously ended with producer Mike Richards selecting himself as host before almost immediately stepping down after embarrassing past podcast comments came to light. Ironically, Richards said in a 2024 People Magazine article that Buck took to hosting the quickest of all the guest hosts.
However, the one bummer about this new version of ESPN Jeopardy! is that it doesn’t appear as if it will be open to the masses as the Patrick version was. Instead, this version will focus on celebrity participants including many ESPN personalities. That would make some sense given ESPN’s name is in the title after all, but it’s still disappointing for sports fans that would have loved to try it out for themselves.
Still, sports fans can at least rejoice that there is a trivia show returning to the airwaves that they can call their own. The real Jeopardy! has definitely stepped up their game with sports categories in recent years, so hopefully this one will take the ball and run with it even farther. The biggest question though just might be if anyone can beat Jeopardy! aficionado Mina Kimes.
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