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The course finally comes to America.
Six cities send hopefuls to Vegas, not Japan — the format's biggest swing yet.
A rhythm worth tracking.
Season four is the format's biggest overhaul yet. Six regional qualifying cities — Venice Beach, Dallas, and Miami among them — replace the single-city model, pulling in a much wider field. The bigger shift comes at the finish line: national finals move off Mount Midoriyama entirely and onto a US-built replica course in Las Vegas, the first time competitors don't have to fly to Japan to test themselves against it. Jonny Moseley and Angela Sun join the broadcast.
The #03 slot.
Slot #03 of 6 in the American Ninja Warrior Editor's Canon. Season four is the show's most important season and its most transitional one, and the canon has to hold both truths. Six regional qualifiers replace the single-city model and give the field genuine national scope for the first time, and moving the finals off Mount Midoriyama onto a US-built Vegas course is the format's single biggest structural decision. But a season absorbing that much change at once — new regions, a new finals venue, a new commentary team — shows the seams. The course design and the pacing get fully sorted out over the two seasons that follow, which is where this one loses ground.