Shark Tank season 9 scores Richard Branson, Alex Rodriguez, more

Shark Tank season 9 is now a sure thing, and with Richard Branson and more, ABC is clearly stepping up the guest shark game.

Today, the network confirmed that the Virgin billionaire adventurer will join a lineup that includes over the course of the season MLB icon and businessman Alex Rodriguez, Skinnygirl guru and Real Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel, Spanx founder Sara Blakely, and venture capitalist Rohan Oza. For those who didn’t hear, Chris Sacca is retiring from startup investing, and with that decided that he won’t be a part of the show anymore. That’s a tremendous bummer, because everything from his shirts to his arguments with Mark Cuban made for great television.

As for the remainder of the Sharks, be prepared to see Daymond John, Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran, and Robert Herjavec all back in some capacity. Maybe having more guest sharks enables ABC to do more episodes while giving some people time off here and there; or, maybe it’s a way to improve ratings that were a little stagnant at times during season 8. Either way, this is worth giving things the benefit of a doubt for now, mostly because the last time there were guest sharks, it brought in Sacca for the first time.

There are still many reasons to think that Shark Tank may still have a long life ahead of it, largely because it generates a ton of money in syndication, and almost the entirety of the show takes place in one single room. They could cut a little off the budget in the update segments if need be. Beyond all of this, the only real costs include paying the on-air talent and then getting the crew on board, which may also be much smaller compared to bigger productions.

Shark Tank season 9 will premiere this fall. While there is no official premiere date just yet, most signs point to the show jumping back on its familiar spot Friday nights at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. It will be paired with some new programming, as both Last Man Standing and Dr. Ken are both canceled.

What do you think about the lineup of guests sharks for the new season? Share in the comments below, and head over here to get some further news when it comes to Shark Tank right now. (Photo: ABC.)