NBC is taking American Ninja Warrior through its milestone 20th season — which coincides with the sport’s inclusion in the Summer Olympics.
The network has renewed American Ninja Warrior for two more seasons, which will be the 19th and 20th for the competition series. The renewal comes on the heels of the show’s season 18 finale Monday night.
Season 19 will air in summer 2027 and feature the return of the Mt. Midoriyama obstacle course in Las Vegas. Season 20 is set for 2028 and will be an all-star edition, featuring champions from more than a dozen countries around the world and several former Olympic athletes.
A Ninja Warrior-style obstacle race will be incorporated into the modern pentathlon at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, replacing the equestrian show jumping portion of the event and joining fencing, swimming, running and shooting. Tokyo Broadcasting System, which created the Sasuke/Ninja Warrior format, licensed some of its intellectual property (including the design of some obstacles) to the governing body of modern pentathlon for the Olympics.
On Monday, Josiah Pippel won season 18 of American Ninja Warrior. The 20-year-old has competed on the show for six consecutive seasons and reached the national finals stage each time but had never taken home the grand prize until this year.
American Ninja Warrior is produced by A. Smith & Co. Productions. The show’s executive producers are Arthur Smith, Kent Weed, Anthony Storm, Brian Richardson and Kristen Stabile.
Read the full article here
