Is Minneapolis ready to be a Ninja Warrior city?

When American Ninja Warrior announced the filming locations and dates for season 10, we saw a lot of familiar cities on the list. In fact, this season will include only one new location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

The course will set up at the US Bank Stadium for taping on May 25 and 26. So what can we expect from this new location?

The stadium is home to the Minnesota Vikings and will host Super Bowl LII on February 4, 2018. American Ninja Warrior loves a good sports town. That’s something the Executive Producer in Charge of Production, Kristin Stabile, shared with us when we talked with her about what goes into finding the filming locations.

But what’s the Ninja culture like in Minneapolis? It looks pretty strong to us! According to Ninja Guide.Com, there are eight Ninja gyms in the state, most of which are right around the city. The Ultimate Ninja Athlete Association has held five events in the state for their 2017-2018 season.

In season nine of American Ninja Warrior, two of the female Ninjas who advanced to the Kansas City Finals were from Minnesota, Sarah Schoback and Sara Heesen. Sarah owns one of those area Ninja gyms, the Obstacle Academy. Hunter Guerard, who also advanced to the City Finals, is a trainer there.

Fernando Leon/NBC

Hunter made it all the way to Stage Two of the National Finals. He was joined in that accomplishment by Eric Middleton, another Minnesota local. Sara Heesen also qualified for the National Finals.

Fernando Leon/NBC

Jaysen Saly, who competed in season nine, and has been a course tester before, recently opened his own Ninja gym in the area, Five Star Ninjas.

This is just the tip of the iceberg! The more we dig, the more Minnesota Ninjas we come across.

So if the question is: Can Minnesota give Ninja fans the action they crave? The answer is: Yes, yes it can.