Jeopardy! Tonight (Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026): Matthew Riggle Is $4,398 From $100,000
Key takeaways
- Jeopardy! is new tonight, Wednesday, Sept. 16 — Season 43, Episode 3.
- Matthew Riggle returns as a four-day champion with $95,602.
- Win $4,398 or more and he crosses $100,000 on air tonight.
The gist: Riggle plays Jen Spinoglio and Daniel Nicastro in a first-run game, in whatever slot your station uses. Our week-by-week Jeopardy! page tracks every night of premiere week in one place.
Who is playing on Jeopardy! tonight?
Jeopardy.com posted the lineup Wednesday morning. Riggle teaches math at a community college in Madison, Alabama, and the show has him flagged as on a roll.
His challengers: Jen Spinoglio, a financial researcher from San Francisco, and Daniel Nicastro, a delivery driver from Las Vegas. Neither has played before.
How close is Riggle to $100,000?
Closer than the streak length suggests. Four wins have brought him $95,602, an average of $23,900 a game, so $4,398 tonight puts him over six figures.
That is a low bar for a champion who has been winning in the $8,000 to $23,000 range. It is not automatic, though. Two of his four wins were decided by a wager rather than a runaway, including Monday's $1 margin.
What do his numbers say about the odds?
The Jeopardy! Fan has him at 97 correct responses against 14 wrong, 4 for 5 on Daily Doubles, and an average Coryat of $19,450. Its model gives him roughly a 60 percent shot at a fifth win.
The soft spot is Final Jeopardy!, where he is 2 for 4. He has survived both misses by betting to cover, which is why the wagering screen matters more than the scoreboard on this streak. Long runs are built this way — our rundown of the longest streaks has the company he would be joining around game 10.
What happened last night?
All three players wrote the Space Needle for a Landmarks Final, the first clean sweep of Season 43. Riggle's $5,401 cover bet finished him at $23,201, and Wesley Jalipa edged Abby Mullen for second by exactly $101.
Tuesday's full scores break down the bets; the premiere went the opposite way, with nobody solving Final. Nicastro's Las Vegas and Spinoglio's San Francisco give tonight's board a West Coast tilt.
What time is it on?
There is no single national time. New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia run it at 7 p.m., Boston and Atlanta at 7:30, and Chicago has it in the afternoon at 3:30.
Enter your ZIP code in our air-time guide to find your own station. Wheel of Fortune is new tonight too, in the neighboring half hour, and its week-by-week page has Tuesday's missed $50,000 bonus puzzle.
👉 Results go up here after the East Coast broadcast — check nightly results around 5 p.m. ET.
FAQ
Is Jeopardy! new tonight? Yes, Season 43, Episode 3. Every weeknight through Friday is first-run.
Who is the current Jeopardy! champion? Matthew Riggle, four wins and $95,602.
What is on the rest of the week? Two more new games, Thursday and Friday — the week-ahead page keeps the running tally.
Sources · Jeopardy.com — tonight's contestants · The Jeopardy! Fan — champion stats and win probability · TVmaze — Season 43 episode list
- Jeopardy! Tonight (Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026): Matthew Riggle Goes for Four vs. Abby Mullen and Wesley Jalipa
- Jeopardy! Tonight (Monday, Sept. 14, 2026): Season 43 Premiere Players, Air Time, and Where to Watch
- Jeopardy! Tonight (Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026): Masters Final at 8 on ABC, Air Times by City, and Tonight's Syndicated Encore
- Is Jeopardy! New Tonight? This Week's Episodes, Encores and Air Times by City