The company that created Ninja Warrior, Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, Inc. (TBS), and the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) have announced that they have reached an agreement to collaborate on SASUKE/Ninja Warrior and the new Modern Pentathlon discipline of Obstacle Racing.

TBS is the producer of the megahit television format SASUKE, which is internationally known as Ninja Warrior. Since its first broadcast on TBS in 1997, SASUKE/Ninja Warrior has become a global phenomenon. The program has aired in more than 160 countries and regions, with local versions produced in over 25 countries. The US version will premiere its 18th season on June 8th 2026.

UIPM is the international federation and the world governing body for a multisport universe spearheaded by Modern Pentathlon. For more than a century after its introduction in 1912, the five Pentathlon disciplines were fencing, swimming, equestrian show jumping, running and shooting (the last two were combined in 2010 to create Laser Run, which debuted in the 1st Youth Olympic Games). Starting in 2022, TBS worked with UIPM in connection with several test events based on SASUKE and other Obstacle Sports elements that ultimately led to the development of UIPM Obstacle Racing. Following the Paris 2024 Olympics, UIPM replaced equestrian with Obstacle Racing at all levels, after the International Olympic Committee voted unanimously in 2023 to include the updated Modern Pentathlon̶featuring Obstacle Racing̶at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

UIPM, which held its first Obstacle World Championships in Beijing in 2025, has licensed the right to use certain SASUKE/Ninja Warrior intellectual property and program elements, such as the design of certain obstacles, from TBS for Obstacle Racing. TBS and UIPMʼs agreement also establishes a framework for both parties to proactively collaborate on and globally cross-promote SASUKE/Ninja Warrior and Modern Pentathlon in the lead up to the Olympics