Austin Rogers isn't turning his nose up at the pop culture "Jeopardy!" spin-off ... saying trivia buffs like him are cool with the traditional game -- but, there's a new breed of fans out there.

We caught up with the "Jeopardy!" champ this week at his bar Gaf West in NYC ... and we had to ask him about his thoughts on the new entertainment-focused game coming to Amazon Prime.

Rogers says he loves the democratization of his fav trivia game ... mentioning people have different interests and knowledge bases -- and, that's something to celebrate, not denigrate.

Of course, AR's bar hosts its own well-known trivia nights ... and, he says he tries to diversify the questions so everyone who comes can feel good about their performance -- so, doing a whole new version like this just makes sense to Austin.

Austin's also lauding the format ... applauding producers for pushing teams of 3, saying he'd enjoy putting together a team -- but, he's still more of a traditional "Jeopardy!" guy.

As for whether he'd want to host, Austin says he's conflicted -- he loves "Jeopardy!" and hosting ... but says there's a dealbreaker rule you have to hear him explain.

ICYMI ... Sony Pictures Television announced the new show last week, which will feature a tournament-style bracket where one team takes home a massive grand prize.

Austin, of course, secured his own bag back in 2017 on the OG "Jeopardy!" ... taking home just over $400K over the course of 13 shows.

Bottom line ... if the answer's "Austin Rogers," then the question's gotta be "Who's excited about the new 'Jeopardy!' spin-off?"