Team Ninja Warrior is an American sports competition series that premiered on Esquire Network in 2016. It is a spin-off of American Ninja Warrior and was created to introduce a team-based, head-to-head racing dynamic to the franchise — a significant departure from the parent show’s individual time-trial format. The series ran for three seasons before concluding in June 2018.
Each team consists of three competitors — two men and one woman — drawn from the pool of popular American Ninja Warrior alums. Unlike the parent show, where athletes race the course one at a time, Team Ninja Warrior places two teams on parallel courses simultaneously, racing side by side in real time. This head-to-head format creates a live, direct competition dynamic not found in the main series.
Teams compete through a series of qualifying heats in which individual members from each team face off obstacle by obstacle. A Relay Showdown then determines which teams advance, with the top performers progressing toward the championship relay — a full-course race that crowns the season champion.
After Season 1 on Esquire Network, the series moved to its sibling channel, USA Network, for Season 2 in 2017, following Esquire Network’s transition away from linear broadcasting. For Season 3, the show was retitled American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja — expanding to 36 teams and introducing further rule changes — before concluding its run on June 18, 2018.
Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila served as the hosts of all three seasons, both reprising their roles from American Ninja Warrior. Actor and journalist Alex Curry served as a sideline reporter throughout the series.
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