‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Weigh in on ESPN Spinoff

Disney/Tyler Golden

We’ll take no more Jeopardy! spinoffs for a while, Joe. ESPN Jeopardy! dropped all 10 episodes on July 31, and fans wish there could be some changes to the new spinoff.

The game show, which is hosted by Joe Buck, focuses on sports-related and ESPN clues. It also features contestants related to the sports world, such as commentators, athletes, and famous sports fans.

The Season 1 contestants included Jeremy Schaap, Christine Williamson, Kimberley Martin, MJ Acosta-Ruiz, Peter Schrage, Omar Raja, Jon Hamm, Keegan-Michael Key, Adam Pally, Hannah Storm, Jay Harris, Amina Smith, Kyle Brandt, Jamie Erdahl, Manti Te’o, Kevin Negandhi, Domonique Foxworth, and Madelyn Burke.

Schapp defeated Hamm and Brandt in the final game. He took home $500,000 for his charity, International Sports and Music Project. Brandt and Hamm each took home $100,000 for their charities.

Did fans like the new version of the classic game show? Here’s what they had to say.

“The questions were super duper easy,” a Reddit user said.

“This is disappointingly stupid easy,” a fan said.

“Diehard sports fans, or even semi-diehard sports fans, would be wiping the floor with these ESPN employees,” another commented.

“Pretty embarrassing some of the clues they couldn’t answer. Can’t say I was overly thrilled with the quality of the clues in addition to the perceived level of difficulty,” a fourth added.

“I think everybody agreed going in already, but not casting real people was such a big mistake. A lot of these clues are easy and these ‘personalities’ just don’t know much outside of their lane,” another said.

“Love sports and typically enjoy the Jeopardy spinoffs, but I’m struggling to get into this. It’s not good sports trivia, the personalities aren’t interesting, and the quality of play is pretty bad…I’m not really sure who this is for,” a Reddit user said.

“I enjoyed the season, but if they wanted to continue this in the future but also open this up to civilians, what if they did a PCJ! style tournament where civilians are teamed up with ESPN personalities?” one fan suggested.

“Man, I wish they had real sports experts as contestants,” another said.

“These people get paid to cover sports? I knew more answers than them, and I barely even pay attention to some of these sports,” one last fan commented. Other fans said that Buck wasn’t the right fit for the show.

What did you think of the new series? Let us know in the comments.

ESPN Jeopardy!, Season 1, all 10 episodes, streaming, Disney+, Hulu, ESPN app