At the end if the show a guest is sometimes awarded a cash sum. When it occurs more often than not it’s 40,000.00.
I assume the money is probably paid by one of the sponsors. W/regard to whoever pays the money, does is its exposure to risk mitigated by an insurance policy of some kind?
I don’t know how WoF does it, but just to get the wheel rolling (ha!), I remember “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire” had some trouble with its insurance underwriter who paid out the large prizes:
It made the news because the insurance company said that the ABC version of the show was too easy and that too many contestants were winning the top prizes. Perhaps WoF might have a similar insurance policy to pay out the large cash prizes.
I assume that the prize money is just part of the production budget.
They might have the million (and possibly the 100 grand) insured but not the other prizes.
I’ve been watching lately and the million-dollar prize seems really unlikely to be won.
That’s what I always thought too. No evidence.
Only four people have won the $1,000,000 prize, including one on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.
There is almost no transparency about the distribution of the prizes. They say there is one wedge with the top cash value (either $100,000 or $1,000,000), and one wedge for the car.
Occasionally someone lands on $50,000 or $75,000, so I assume that those also are one wedge each. That leaves the default $40,000 on all other wedges. My best guess.
That’s a nice amount, even after taxes. Many other shows are far less. Even on Jeopardy! a one day win is commonly $10,000 to $20,000, but of course they get to come back.
Yeah, $40,000 is chickenfeed. If it was sponsored by someone, you’d know! As for insurance, that is for rare events, like a $1,000,000 payout, but $40,000 is common.
I think most of the trips are sponsored, since they plug the resort/travel service pretty heavily.