Massachusetts Among Leading States With Most TV Show Millionaire Winners

The three consistencies for Massachusetts residents appear to be death, taxes and winning large sums of money on TV shows. The third item stems from the Bay State’s number of $1 million winners on various programs, with Massachusetts ranking in a tie for third nationally (alongside Texas) for the number of residents that have won that amount on various shows.

In total, six Massachusetts residents (or 5.8% of all $1 million winners) have won that amount on a given TV program, showing how lucky the state’s populace is. You can't bet on game shows with FanDuel Massachusetts or others, but the data is still interesting.

BetMassachusetts.com utilized Wikipedia.com and other sources to gather each contestant who has won a million dollars (in one or multiple attempts) from the U.S. versions of “Survivor,” “Wheel of Fortune,” all variations of “Jeopardy!” “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?” “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?” “The Price Is Right,” “Deal or No Deal,” “The Amazing Race,” “Big Brother,” and “The Challenge.”

Of note, “The Amazing Race” contestants were only counted if both contestants were from the same state and all celebrities were also included (even if donating whole amount).

Massachusetts residents have gone on to win $1,000,000 on a variety of reality and game shows, including “Amazing Race,” “Survivor,” “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and “Jeopardy!”

While we typically stick to covering Massachusetts sportsbook promos, read on for how the Bay State has made its presence known across multiple game shows in recent years.

States With Most Million Dollar Winners

Rank	State	Number of Winners	Percentage of Winners (Per State)
1	California	26	25%
2	New York	8	7.7%
T3	Massachusetts & Texas	6	5.8% each
T5	Ohio & Pennsylvania	5	4.8% each
7	New Jersey	4	3.8%
T8	Florida, Illinois, Utah & Virginia	3	2.9% each

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Massachusetts Among Leaders For $1M TV Winners

The Bay State has produced a grand total of six $1 million TV show winners, coming in behind New York (eight) and ahead of Ohio and Pennsylvania (five apiece), as well as New Jersey (four) and Florida, Illinois, Utah and Virginia (three apiece).

Among those that have won that amount are Northampton native John Carpenter, who became the first $1 million victor on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” in 1999 and Attleboro’s Jason Case, who won “The Amazing Race” grand prize alongside Amy Diaz during the show’s 2013 campaign.

Each of the six Bay State natives that have reached the $1 million mark on some of TV’s greatest hits illustrate Massachusetts’ unique connection to the TV industry at large.

All of them won big on the industry’s biggest stage, showing how all it takes is the right opportunity to make a lifechanging sum of money under the bright lights of the TV industry.

Keep tabs on BetMassachusetts for more items like this, and we're also home to reviews of the best Massachusetts sports betting apps.

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Author

Christopher Boan

@cgboan

Christopher Boan has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.