Press Releases

Emmy® Award-Winning Television And Sports Personality Ahmad Rashad Named as Host of Game Show Network's New Series, ‘Tug Of Words’

The New Show Will Test Contestants’ Wordplay Skills as Two Teams Compete To Win $10,000

Game Show Network, the leader in game shows and competitive entertainment, has announced Emmy® award-winning television and sports personality Ahmad Rashad as host of a new quick-moving wordplay game show, TUG OF WORDS. The half-hour original series is anticipated to premiere fall 2021.

From the producing team behind “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” TUG OF WORDS is a fast-paced game where two teams compete to answer word clue questions correctly and pull the flag on the “tug of war rope” to their side. In round one, each answer involves changing a single letter in the word that appears on the board. For example, with ‘TUG’ on the board, the answer to the clue ‘a label inside a garment’ is ‘TAG,’ and with ‘TAG’ then on the board, the answer to the clue ‘hopefully the upstairs neighbors aren’t learning this dance’ is ‘TAP.’ With each round, an additional letter is added creating four and five letter words to solve. The team with the flag on their side after three rounds wins the game, qualifying them for the bonus round where they have opportunity to compete for $10,000.

Emmy® award-winning television personality Ahmad Rashad is perhaps known just as much for his engaging commentary and interviews with some of the best-known figures in sports as he is for his football career. Over the past two decades, Rashad covered NFL and NBA televised contests both as a studio anchor and as a game reporter for NBC and ABC as well as hosted and executive produced “NBA Inside Stuff.” In 2010 he began hosting "One on One with Ahmad Rashad,” an NBA TV series which features Rashad’s candid and in-depth interviews with the NBA’s biggest stars including Lebron James, Michael Jordan, and Shaquille O'Neal.

Rashad also served as a studio host for NBC’s coverage of three Olympic Games: 1988 in Seoul (for which he received an Emmy® award in the category of writing), 1992 in Barcelona and 1996 in Atlanta, as well as the World Championships of Track and Field.

A charming and skilled host, Rashad has long worked in the reality entertainment world, hosting the video-clip show “Real TV” in 2000, the reality show “Celebrity Mole,” and the game show “Caesars Challenge” along with co-host Dan Doherty. He has also guest starred on several films and TV shows, including “Space Jam,” “Monsters,” and “Like Mike.”

Rashad graduated from the University of Oregon, where he played as an All-American and was later named to the College Football Hall of Fame. Rashad played for ten years in the NFL and was an All Pro for the Minnesota Vikings and remains a member of the Vikings “Ring of Honor.”

TUG OF WORDS is produced by Embassy Row, LLC for Game Show Network. Michael Davies serves as executive producer. Susan Warner also serves as executive producer.