WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s most talented young spellers are gathering this week for the 98th Scripps National Spelling Bee, carrying forward a tradition that has lasted more than a century. The competition spans three days, starting Tuesday and wrapping up Thursday evening.
The inaugural competition took place in 1925, when the Louisville Courier-Journal extended invitations to other newspapers to organize local spelling contests and send their winners to the nation’s capital. Following many years at a convention facility in suburban Maryland, this year’s event returns to Washington at Constitution Hall, located just a few blocks from the White House.
A notable update for this year includes the addition of ESPN NFL analyst and recent “Celebrity Jeopardy!” champion Mina Kimes as the competition’s television host.
While this marks the 98th spelling bee, the champion will actually be the 111th winner due to interruptions during World War II from 1943 to 1945 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Multiple ties over the years, including an eight-way tie in 2019, have also contributed to the higher winner count.
Indian heritage contestants have dominated recent competitions, claiming 30 of the last 36 championships, including last year’s victor, Faizan Zaki.
Scripps, the Cincinnati-based media company, will broadcast and stream the competition across its various channels and platforms.
Tuesday’s preliminary rounds will be available on Scripps Sports Network and spellingbee.com from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDT.
Wednesday’s quarterfinals stream on Scripps Sports Network and spellingbee.com from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by semifinals from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on the same platforms. ION will air tape-delayed semifinals from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Thursday’s finals will air on ION from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Both semifinals and finals will also be available on additional Scripps-owned channels and services: ION Plus, Bounce, Grit, Laff, The Spot, Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More, Scripps News and Scripps Sports Network.
Participants earn their spots by succeeding in regional competitions organized by sponsors nationwide. Eligibility requires spellers to be no older than 15 and not have progressed beyond eighth grade.
Competitors must navigate two preliminary rounds featuring words from a pre-distributed list. These include one spelling challenge and one multiple-choice vocabulary test.
Successful preliminary round participants take a written spelling and vocabulary examination, with approximately the top 100 scorers moving to quarterfinals. All test words and subsequent round words come from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged dictionary.
During quarterfinals and semifinals, contestants face elimination through oral spelling and vocabulary challenges at the microphone.
Roughly a dozen spellers reach the finals. When two contestants remain, Scripps may employ a lightning-round tiebreaker called a “spell-off” to crown the winner.
This year’s competition features 247 spellers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, three U.S. territories and five additional countries: The Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.
Sarv Dharavane of Dunwoody, Georgia, returns as the highest-finishing competitor from 2025, having placed third last year as an 11-year-old fifth-grader. Even with a loss this year, he maintains two more years of eligibility.
Additional notable competitors include:
— Shrey Parikh, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Rancho Cucamonga, California, who placed third in 2024. He has excelled in recent competitions, capturing victories at the South Asian Spelling Bee, the SpellPundit National Spelling Bee and the Words of Wisdom Spelling Bee.
— Oliver Halkett, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Los Angeles who tied for seventh place last year.
— Esha Marupudi, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Chandler, Arizona, who also tied for seventh place last year.
The champion receives a custom trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes. Prize distribution includes:
— First place: $52,500 in cash, reference works from Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster, a custom trophy and commemorative medal, and $1,000 in flight credits from Delta Air Lines.
— Second place: $25,000.
— Third place: $15,000.
— Fourth place: $10,000.
— Fifth place: $5,000.
— Sixth place: $2,500.
— All other finalists: $2,000.
