American Ninja Warrior, sometimes abbreviated as ANW, is an American sports entertainment and reality game show competition program based on the Japanese television reality show Sasuke, which also serves as a successor of American Ninja Challenge. It features a set of obstacle courses in various cities, which competitors attempt to conquer. The obstacle courses are divided into Qualifiers courses, Semifinals courses, and a four-part Finals course which is based at the Las Vegas Strip (sometimes called Mount Midoriyama). The competitor who finishes all the courses in the fastest time wins a cash prize of $1,000,000. Starting with season 10, if one remaining competitor fails on any of Finals course parts but has completed it more than the others in the fastest time, they win a consolatory $100,000 prize. The show is hosted by Matt Iseman (the show's moderator) and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila. To date, only three competitors have won the main cash prize: Isaac Caldiero, Drew Drechsel, and Vance Walker (who is the only competitor to do it twice). Furthermore, Geoff Britten, Daniel Gil, and Caleb Bergstrom are the only three runners-up who have achieved Total Victory.
The series premiered on December 12, 2009, on cable channel G4. For the first three seasons, the show only screened a single qualifying and semifinals course while the top contestants travelled to Japan to compete at the Sasuke seasons' finals course. In 2012, the modern format began with multiple qualifying and semifinals courses in several cities, a fixed Finals course in Las Vegas, and now regularly airing on NBC. In 2020, following COVID-19 restrictions, the show abolished the usual format and filmed a shorter season in St. Louis studio with no live audience. Production for the 13th season reverted to the previous format, although with fewer filming locations.
On February 3, 2025, it was announced that American Ninja Warrior had been renewed for a seventeenth season, and premiered in June 2025. On August 4, 2025, it was announced that American Ninja Warrior had been renewed for an eighteenth season, which premiered on June 8, 2026.
History In late 2006, the American cable channel G4 began airing broadcasts of the Japanese sports entertainment television special Sasuke (subtitled or dubbed in English and re-titled Ninja Warrior). Coinciding with this, the channel held the first American Ninja Challenge, in which Americans gained the opportunity to be sent to compete on Sasuke. Over time, the semi-annual Sasuke broadcasts on G4 gained a cult following in the United States and eventually almost became the channel's most-watched broadcasts. This led to the creation of the American adaptation of the show, American Ninja Warrior, in 2009. American Ninja Warrior followed American Ninja Challenge as the qualifying route for Americans to enter Sasuke.
Since the fourth season, American finalists compete on a nearly-identical finals course on the Las Vegas Strip instead of traveling to Japan to compete on Sasuke. NBC began broadcasting the city finals and national finals episodes in the fourth season.
By the fifth season, G4 was set to be replaced by Esquire Network and had wound down all original programming except American Ninja Warrior by January 2013. Notably, the sideboard advertising along the fifth season's courses listed Esquire Network as the broadcaster because G4 was going to transition into Esquire Network by April 22, 2013—before the season premiere. However, the channel switch was delayed to September 23, 2013, and Esquire Network took over Style Network's channel space instead. As a result, NBC became the sole broadcaster of the original episodes while Esquire Network aired reruns until the eighth season.
Format Competitors Before being eligible to compete, all competitors must first meet several requirements. There is no maximum age limit, but the minimum has consistently been lowered. For the first 9 seasons, it was 21, then in season 10 it was lowered to 19 for the next 3 seasons. Starting with season 13, specific teenagers from 15 are invited to the show as specific guests, while the minimum age lowered to 15 years was officially regulated in season 15. Competitors must fill out a 20-question questionnaire and make a video about themselves which would be displayed on the show before their runs. Video length requirements have varied from two to eight minutes, depending on the season (currently two to three minutes). Some of the competitors may be given more screen time, with full run and background shown; other runs may be shown briefly or edited out of the episode. Producer Anthony Storm said that the screen time is divided between athletes based on their performance, story originality, and the amount of competitions they have already participated in before.
About 1,000 people applied to compete in the first season, 3,500 in the fifth season, 5,000 in the sixth season, 50,000 in the seventh season, 70,000 in the eighth season, and 77,000 in the ninth season. Producers then select 100 competitors from the applicants to participate in each qualifier. Until season 11, applicants could also camp outside a qualifying course and wait days or weeks to be one of the 10-30 participants selected as walk-ons. Beginning in Season 11, a lottery system was instituted to randomly select 15-20 walk-ons per qualifier.
Obstacles
The episode's obstacles are designed and produced five months prior to an episode taping, usually from fall to winter. They share similar visual appearance and colors: the red or blue plastic inserts are installed into suspensory metal constructions and mark the pathway through the obstacle. A pool of water is located beneath every obstacle, though some in earlier seasons had mats instead. If a competitor touches water at any time, their run ends. The producers may make adjustments to the obstacles to change their difficulty between competitions, but not during opened events. The competitors do not see and have no option to practice on the obstacle courses before their run, but are given instructions on the approach to them. By and large, the goal is to make 10 to 15% of competitors complete a single obstacle course.
In the fourth season, each location contained one or two obstacles that differed between others. Since the fifth season, three to all five obstacles have differed. In the tenth season, the show's first underwater obstacle was introduced during Stage 2 of the National Finals. Since the 12th season, some obstacles changed in appearance to look more vibrant after there was no need to change locations of events. Starting with season 13, contestants got to choose between two obstacles to complete on some occasions in qualifiers and semifinals called Split Decision. It has been considered a psychological challenge for the contestants and also a way to save up energy before next obstacles. The amount of new obstacles per season is regulated by NBC.
Beginning with the ninth season, fans of the show have been given the opportunity to design their own obstacles through the ANW Obstacle Design Challenge.
Qualifiers In each qualifying course, the competitors that have been selected compete on the first obstacle course which consists of six obstacles. Usually, the first and the third obstacles test the competitor's balance skills while the others are oriented on the upper body. However, since the 15th season, the first obstacle is reconsidered as an upper body one.
The Warped Wall serves as a sixth and final obstacle on every qualifiers course, while the competitors have three chances to complete it. In the first 7 seasons, the wall reached a total height of 14 ft. In the 8th and 9th seasons, it was increased to 14'6". In the 10th season, the 18-foot "Mega Wall" was introduced adjacent to the Warped Wall. Competitors had only one attempt to reach the top of the Mega Wall and, if successful, they won $10,000. In the 11th season, competitors were given the choice of which to climb; if they chose the Mega Wall, those who failed on their first attempt could earn $5,000 on their second attempt and $2,500 on their third if successful. From seasons 12 to 14, the structure of the Mega Wall returned to the season 10 rules. Starting with the 15th season, the Mega Wall was elevated to 18'6" and could only be attempted if competitors complete the course in under 1:20.00.
At the top of both walls, a competitor presses a buzzer that stops the timer and records their time, ending their run on the course. The top 30 competitors who go the farthest in the least time advance to the city finals course. Since the fifth season, competitors who complete the qualifiers automatically move on to the semifinals. Since the ninth season, the top five women also advance to the semifinals, even if they have not finished in the top 30. In the 15th season, the leaderboards for men and women have divided into top 13 men and top 5 women.
Starting with season 15, a new qualifying segment, The Runoffs, was introduced. After all contestants of the night run their courses, the two competitors of men and women who finish outside of automatic semifinal spot compete against each other on a course of four obstacles introduced in previous seasons. The competitor who goes farther or faster than their opponent advances to semifinals, while the second runner is eliminated.
From season 4 to 11, the qualifiers were called City Qualifiers and were held in various cities around the United States. However, after the shutdown of the series due to COVID-19 pandemic, all city qualifiers were suspended, while filming for the twelfth season was entirely held in St. Louis, while the current format of qualifiers was established and later implemented in future seasons. All qualifiers are now held in a single predetermined city, and the show covers all the contestants' expenses, including travel costs and accommodation. Showrunner Anthony Storm said that there is a chance that the series will return to the old model of qualifiers.
Semifinals The semifinal courses are the follow-up to each qualifying course. They contain four new obstacles in addition to the six obstacles featured in the city qualifying course. These four obstacles are all placed after the original six obstacles. In the tenth season, two of the original six obstacles are replaced with new obstacles for the city finals course. The change was dropped in the next season, but a season later, all the original obstacles except the first and the Warped Wall were decided to be switched. There is no opportunity to run the Mega Wall and receive $10,000. The extra set of obstacles mostly centers on the contestant's upper body skills.
The top 15 or 12 competitors who go the farthest in the least time from each city finals course move on to compete on the National Finals course. Since the fifth season, competitors who complete the city finals automatically move on to the National Finals. Since the ninth season, the top two women in each city finals course also move on to compete on the National Finals course, even if they do not finish in the top 15 or 12. Previously, many women had been granted wildcard slots, which allowed them to advance to the National Finals. Since the 8th season, small prizes ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 are awarded to first, second, and third finishers who complete the city finals course.
Since the eleventh season, a new segment called Power Tower was introduced as an expansion to the semifinal course. The top two competitors would race against each other on a standalone course containing several obstacles simultaneously. The first who presses the buzzer on top of the Power Tower wins a Safety Pass, which allows one to retry a single National Finals course if needed.