Do you hear that? It’s the theme music of “Jeopardy!” playing as you are scanning your brain to recall a bit of trivia, with a drink in one hand and a wing in the other.
Last year, “Jeopardy!” announced it was partnering with TimePlay interactive entertainment and Geeks Who Drink, a company that creates trivia nights at bars. They worked together to form over 150 active Jeopardy! Bar League games across the nation.
One of the games, hosted by Niki Peters-Blanchard, who placed second in the Jeopardy! College Championship in 2016, kicked off at Buffalo Wild Wings in Monona on Nov. 12.
At 7 p.m. on the contest’s opening night, the bar was packed with people ready to battle over their intelligence. The rules were clarified — one player would be the captain of the team, and the captain would submit answers through their phone — which are only allowed for responding, not looking up answers. When a QR code popped up on multiple TVs mounted along the walls, the captains were prompted to create goofy names for their team: Stone Cold Jane Austen, Deadlast, Micah Parsons Project, Bridge to Teratrivia, The Lone Gunman, Alex Angels, Bozos and 6 7 were some of the finest.
There were 12 teams in all competing for prizes, which included gift cards to the restaurant and the chance to be photographed with a huge game belt.
The game is played in three rounds, with whoever is the first to answer correctly winning the question.
Like the TV version, the trivia games feature “Daily Double” questions hidden in category questions, where the players get to wager a certain number of points.
The game starts off with people choosing a question category, the team fights for the battle of the smarts to win. The Stone Cold Jane Austen team ended up neck and neck against the Deadlast team, with each team going back and forth winning new questions. Whenever a team answered incorrectly, you just heard groans, cheers and drinks clinking. When no one could answer a question from the category “Let’s visit Ottawa,” all you could hear across the room was players groaning.
The team Micah Parsons Project wins the first round with Stone Cold Jane Austen in second place behind them. Two young players went up to the host asking for clues to one of the questions.
“Haha, nice try, you’re so funny,” she responded. “I don’t think so, guys.”
The players were drawn to the event for different reasons. Some were curious about how the game would be played, others were looking for something new to do.
“We thought it would be something unique to do for trivia game nights,” said player Scott Sweeney.
Sweeney’s teammate, Bill Stenson, interjected, “We’re also here for the drinks and the wings!”
Kate Thornbery, another player in the same group, said, “We know the quizmaster pretty well and she is great. The game is very engaging and fun!”
The team Deadlast won first place in the final round. Micah Parsons Project came in second, and Stone Cold Jane Austen came in third. Posing for a photo, the Deadlast team held up the championship belt.
Joey Ewbank, a player on the Deadlast team, was not effusive about the victory.
“It was alright,” he said with a shrug due to the fact that he and his group had already played before at a lot of trivia nights like this.
Peters-Blanchard knew some of the players from trivia nights she’d hosted as a quizmaster in the past at Great Dane Pub and Brewing.
“I love ‘Jeopardy!,’ and it was a great opportunity with Wild Wings. The atmosphere was great,” she said. “It’s not just people from trivia nights and there are other quizmasters here to see what this is like.”
Every Wednesday at 7 p.m., Peters-Blanchards will host these events at Wild Wings in Monona until July 15, 2026. It’s a night for the geek community to show off their smarts. It is also a place for a break from the real world through trivia nights in the style of “Jeopardy!” with drinks, wings, and fun!
