How much damage is James Holzhauer doing to Jeopardy!'s prize budget?

The Atlantic

Holzhauer has won $850,000 over just 12 episodes, putting him on pace to beat Ken Jennings' record $2.5 million record in less than half the 74 episodes it took to become the all-time Jeopardy! champ. So what is Holzhauer doing to Jeopardy!'s finances? “Every game show has a prize budget,” says Bob Boden, a former head of programming at Game Show Network who has worked on many game shows, including Family Feud. “Typically, for a long-running show the prize budget is determined by way of averages of what has been won in the past.” Large deviations from such averages can strain these prize budgets, he says. “James’ performance, I’m sure, is causing grief for an accountant somewhere,” says Boden. ALSO: Is Holzhauer currently America's best sports story?