How Much!! We Finally Find Out How Much America Ninja Warriors Earn And It’s Truly Hard To Believe!
If you are like me, you find yourself casually watching Season after Season of America Ninja Warrior and suddenly you realize, there has been 8 seasons of this show. Then you realize, this show has created an entire industry out of thin air. There are Ninja gyms all across the country. There are Ninja superstars that are becoming just as famous as professional athletes. There’s even endorsement deals! Have you seen this Kasey Catanzaro commercial for Fairfield Suites and Inns?
With all this money being made, surly America Ninja Warrior is kicking out some dough for their top talent right? Right….and wrong.
Let’s start at the top. The top of Mt. Midoriyama that is. Last year was the first year that someone actually finished the finals course. Not only did one person finish, but two!. Issac Caldiero beat Geoff Britten by three seconds, making him officially the fastest person completing the final round. He was awarded the $1 million dollar grand prize.
You figure 2nd Place has to be good for a few hundred thousand dollars right? NOPE! How about just $100,000? NOPE! $50,000? NOPE! Geoff Britten received absolutely nothing. Nada! Zilch!
The only person ever to receive money in the 7 completed seasons of ANW was Caldiero.
HOW THE HELL DO WE KNOW THIS?
How we know everything…the internet. Veteran contestant, Ryan Stratis did a Reddit AMA 2 years ago, where fans asked him anything and everything about the show.
In regards to getting paid, here is what he said,
Everything is out of pocket for your travel to the location and hotel and food. Only time you had anything paid for is if you made the finals.”
So for the qualifier and the city finals you are paying for everything. However, for the finals, ANW does begin to pay for some things, but not your talent.
When I went to Japan for ANW 3 our flights and hotel [were] paid for and we got a stipend for things like food for the week.
YOU ACTUALLY MAKE MORE MONEY FOR BEING IN THE AUDIENCE THEN COMPETING
Yep. Some of these runs that we watch on TV are actually happening at 1 and 2 in the morning. A few seasons back in 2012 the Dallas Observer put out a casting call for extras to just stand around and cheer:
They’re looking for extras to hang out and appear enthusiastic; you’ll get kicked $47.50 for your lack of efforts. Taping is scheduled to end at 3 a.m. with an additional $7.25 an hour if it goes late.
To summarize:
- Standing in line for days, training for years and being a superfit Ninja = $0.00
- Being a slob, eating popcorn and chips and watching super Ninjas = $50
They should rename this ‘MURICA NINJA WARRIOR, only in America could you get paid more for being less.
Stratis was nice enough to continue answering questions for over 7 hours. We learned a lot from the thread but probably too much. Here are:
3 OF THE MOST INTERESTING THINGS WE LEARNED FROM THE STRATIS REDDIT
A finals tournament happens all in a single day.
We got on site around 9 am, signed in and started running stage 1 around 10 am. Stage 1 wrapped up around 9pm that night and stage 2 started around 10pm. Stage 3 started around 1 am and Stage 4 didnt start till almost 4 am! So if you made it to the tower you were pretty much running on 0 fuel lol. By the time everything was over the sun was rising. It was awesome :).
Do they tell you what type of obstacles there will be before hand?
Nope! We are in the dark until the week of try outs. If anything we may have a day or two of knowing what our regions obstacles will be. They change from region to region except for only a few mainstays like the warped wall and salmon ladder. Keeps thing interesting for us not knowing until the last minute!
Do they only select the more interesting/charismatic people based on submission videos?
I honestly don’t know how casting picks. I assume it helps but it has changed a lot over the years. ANW 1 it didn’t take much to secure a spot but now so many people are trying out it really helps to have a detailed try out video. Share as much as you are willing to about your life story and background in both the video and application.
How much money have you put into this as far as traveling and any sort of entrance fees and such?
As far as money that I have spent TOTAL. If you include all the training trips I have taken to train at my friends gyms and replica courses as well as try outs over the last 5 years probably around 15,000 dollars. That includes 3 trips to California for the first 3 seasons, 2 trips to Miami for the last 2 seasons, various train ups in California, Connecticut, New Jersey and DC, and purchasing training equipment / recovery aid such as chiropractic and massage therapy. There is no entry fee for the show, applying is free but getting down there costs a bit. You’ll want to dedicate at least 5 days for the duration of try outs. 1 to get there, 3 days for the actual competition and 1 day to leave.
Please don’t take this question the wrong way but is there drug testing in Ninja Warrior?
IM NOT ON ROIDS AAAAAAHHHHH (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻.
Lol, no worries man. Not taken the wrong way. They do not test for drugs but they do conduct a pretty thorough background check and medical evaluation should you make it past the semi finals. Having things like unpaid tickets or some sort of criminal history could affect your chances as well.
Now you can wow your friends with your Ninja knowledge. Here is the link to the full Reddit and watch Issac Caldiero’s epic run.
WATCH NOW:Isaac Caldiero’s Epic Ascent of Mt. Midoriyama
