Ryan Long, a former ride-share driver from Mount Airy who won 16 “Jeopardy!” games in 2022, is returning to the quiz show for its upcoming Invitational Tournament. And he’s not the only Philly native who won during Season 38 who’s on the roster.
The Invitational Tournament, back for its second iteration, brings together 27 fan-favorite champions from previous seasons to battle it out for a $150,000 grand prize and a chance to compete for even more cash in the 2025 “Jeopardy! Masters” spinoff. Along with Long, the Invitational Tournament lineup also includes Jackie Kelly, a 2022 four-game “Jeopardy!” winner who is originally from Philadelphia.
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Long earned acclaim and about $300,000 during his impressive run on “Jeopardy!” that began in May 2022, and he ranks 10th in the show’s history for most consecutive games won. He also appeared on “Celebrity Jeopardy!” to give clues about Philly and earned a spot in the Tournament of Champions, though he lost in the first round. He became quite the Philly celebrity following his “Jeopardy!” success, too. He was celebrated with a ceremony at City Hall and had his own float during 6ABC’s 2022 Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Kelly is a pension calculation developer who earned over $115,000 during her time on “Jeopardy!” in March 2022. She went on to become a semifinalist in the Tournament of Champions that year. At the time, she was living in North Carolina, though she talked on the show about her family’s Philly roots and how their Phillies fandom earned them some 6ABC airtime during the 2008 World Series. She also had a “Jeopardy!” watch party at the Chickie’s & Pete’s on Roosevelt Boulevard.
Long and Kelly will face some formidable opponents in the invitational, including 2024 “Jeopardy! Masters” fourth- and sixth-place finishers Amy Schneider and Matt Amodio — who won the second and third most consecutive games in “Jeopardy!” history, respectively — as well as 2024 Tournament of Champions runner-up Ben Chan and second runner-up Troy Meyer. There will also be players that were on the show as far back as 1987, and from a variety of “Jeopardy!” spinoffs like “Million Dollar Masters,” “Battle of the Decades,” “National College Championship,” “Teen Tournament” and “Kids Week.”
The Invitational Tournament includes nine quarterfinal games, three semifinals and a multiple-game final round — in which the first champ to win two games will be crowned. It will begin airing the day after the conclusion of the Tournament of Champions, which is currently airing on ABC and will finish whenever one of the three remaining competitors wins three games. Two of the finalists have one win each, so the earliest the tournament could finish would be Thursday and the latest it could end is Monday.
It’s not yet been revealed when Long or Kelly would play, or whether they will face each other. The Invitational Tournament schedule will become available on the “Jeopardy!” website following the completion of the Tournament of Champions. “Jeopardy!” airs weeknights at 7 p.m. on ABC.
