2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee Prizes
For their participation in the Bee, our national finalists receive a number of awards and prizes from the Bee and our prize sponsors. Below is the prize structure for this year, from all spellers to the Champion!
From the Scripps National Spelling Bee
A prize package including Bee souvenirs and an official certificate of participation
From Merriam-Webster
A one-year subscription to Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online
From Mr. Jay Sugarman
A 2023 United States Mint Proof Set, given in honor of his father Samuel Louis Sugarman, who revered academic achievement
From Encyclopædia Britannica
A one-year subscription to Britannica Online Premium
From the Scripps National Spelling Bee
- A commemorative pin and
- A $100 gift card
From the Scripps National Spelling Bee
- A commemorative medal and
- A $500 gift card
From the Scripps National Spelling Bee
- A commemorative medal and:
- Miss in the first Round of Finals through to 7th place - $2,000
- 6th place - $2,500
- 5th place - $5,000
- 4th place - $10,000
- 3rd place - $15,000
- 2nd place - $25,000
From the Scripps National Spelling Bee
- a $50,000 cash prize,
- a commemorative medal and
- the Scripps Cup, the official championship trophy of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
From Merriam-Webster
a $2,500 cash prize and reference library
From Encyclopædia Britannica
$400 of reference works, including a 1768 Encyclopædia Britannica © Replica Set and a three-year membership to Britannica Online © Premium
From Scholastic
$2,000 Scholastic Dollars to be donated to the school of the Champion’s choice in their honor
From SugarBee Apple
$2,500 (approximately) prize package supporting local celebrations in the champion’s hometown
From the Scripps National Spelling Bee
Engraved commemorative plaques
Note: Quarterfinalist, Semifinalist, Finalist and Champion monetary awards are not cumulative; that is, a speller moving on to the Semifinals will not receive both the Quarterfinalist and Semifinalist gift cards, but a Quarterfinalist who does not qualify for the Semifinals will receive everything listed at the Quarterfinalist level.
*Spellers who are eliminated from the competition in the same round are assigned the same rank (place).
Spellers competing in the Spell-off (if activated) will be ranked according to number of words spelled correctly; any spellers who spell the same number of words correctly will be assigned the same rank (place) except in the case of a tie for first. In that case, the winner will be the speller who achieved the highest percentage correct out of words attempted during the Spell-off. If there is still a tie, co-champions will be declared. Misspellings during the Spell-off do not result in immediate elimination.
If two or more spellers tie for first place, the cash prize for each will be $50,000.
Cash prizes for spellers who are tied for second through sixth place will be determined by the method used in the following example:
If three spellers tied for fourth place, the cash prize for each would be the sum of the prize amounts for fourth, fifth and sixth place divided by three; therefore, each speller tied for fourth place would receive $5,833.33 (($2,500 + $5,000 + $10,000) / 3).