Covid Almost Sank ‘Shark Tank.’ Here’s What to Expect From Season 12

Shark Tank almost came up empty for season 12.

After significant delays related to safety concerns surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, production for the latest season of the hit ABC show was moved at the 11th hour from Sony Studios in Los Angeles to the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas.

“We didn’t know if it was going to be shot,” Shark Tank investor Barbara Corcoran told Inc. in a recent interview. “We were waiting and waiting on the state to give approvals for filming and then finally when we decided to take it out of the state it got pulled together so quickly in Las Vegas.”

Here’s what to expect from season 12 of the show, which premieres Friday, October 16 at 8 pm ET.

Friday’s season premiere will feature family businesses TouchUp Cup and GarmaGuard.  TouchUp Cup is a paint storage product started by a father and his 15-year-old son from Cincinnati. GarmaGuard–founded by a husband and wife from Milltown, New Jersey–is a product designed to keep garments safe from bacteria and odor. Episode one will also feature two entrepreneurs from Somerville, Massachusetts whose company, Spark Charge, makes a portable electric vehicle charger, and a company from Portland, Oregon called Rumpl, which makes a “blanket for everywhere.”

Two new guest sharks, TOMS shoes founder Blake Mycoskie and jewelry entrepreneur Kendra Scott, will compete for deals during season 12. Former Major League Baseball player and founder of A-Rod Corp, Alex Rodriguez, will return to the show as a guest shark, as will Daniel Lubetzky, founder of snack company KIND. Mycoskie will appear in the premiere episode alongside regular sharks Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Daymond John, and Kevin O’Leary.

While Corcoran says the location change didn’t make it harder to field pitches from entrepreneurs, new safety protocols did change a few aspects of the show. On set, the sharks are 20 feet apart and have speakers so they can hear each other. The entrepreneurs are also much farther away when pitching.