NBC’s American Ninja Warrior will return for an eighth season this summer. The Emmy Award-winning competition series will begin filming soon, however the official premiere date hasn’t been announced.
NBC’s renewal announcement revealed season eight of American Ninja Warrior will be traveling to six cities before finishing up with the finals in Las Vegas. The six locations include Universal Studios’ backlot in Los Angeles, The Home Depot Backyard at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, and the State Capitol Building in Oklahoma City. The competition will also take place at Rash Field in Baltimore, downtown Cincinnati, and the Tacoma Dome in Washington.
Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila will return as hosts. Arthur Smith and Kent Weed of A. Smith & Co. Productions executive produce along with Brian Richardson, Anthony Storm, and Kristen Stabile. The series is based on Japan’s Sasuke which has been around for 36 seasons.
American Ninja Warrior Series Details:
“The action-packed series follows competitors as they tackle challenging obstacle courses in city qualifying and finals rounds throughout the country. Top competitors in each of the city finals rounds move onto the national finals, where they compete on a four-stage course that includes multiple obstacles on each stage. The winner, who must complete all four stages, including the final 75-foot rope climb, will take home a grand prize of $1 million.
In addition, the ninja to go the farthest on the national finals course wins $100,000. Last season’s inaugural ‘last ninja standing’ was American Ninja Warrior veteran Drew Drechsel. Drechsel has competed on eight seasons of the show to date and recently served as the captain for Team USA on the show’s annual ‘USA Vs. the World’ telecast.
Last season, American Ninja Warrior introduced several new twists, including lowering the competitors’ age limit to 19, which ushered in a new generation of strong, swift ninjas, and the fan-favorite 18-foot mega-warped wall, which offered competitors a chance to instantly win $10,000.
This season will bring some new, significant changes to the course and the game play, including new rules for the mega-warped wall and never-before-seen obstacles.”
