How Will The ESPN Deal Affect The Pro Leagues?

Back on our second episode of Deep Look, Ultiworld’s weekly podcast, Wes Cronk and I talked about the prospect of USA Ultimate landing an ESPN deal. With today’s big news, it is once again relevant:

Certainly USA Ultimate just made the biggest step forward, but, as I point out above, it could be that a rising tide lifts all boats. The American Ultimate Disc League just tweeted, “Ultimate as a spectator sport is in it’s infancy. This deal advances all of our goals of creating masses of Ultimate fans. #Good.”

Certainly, though, this solidifies USA Ultimate’s position as the premier place to play top-level ultimate. Questions started to buzz in the wake of the Triple Crown Tour announcement; the full buy-in from teams and this multiyear deal with ESPN answers them definitively.

But the professional leagues could sign TV deals of their own, of course. Two weeks ago, Major League Ultimate’s owner Jeff Snader suggested that he may have a cable deal in the works as well.

  1. Charlie Eisenhood
    Charlie Eisenhood

    Charlie Eisenhood is the editor-in-chief of Ultiworld.You can reach him by email ([email protected]) or on Twitter (@ceisenhood).

TAGGED: , , , , ,

More from Ultiworld
Discussion on "How Will The ESPN Deal Affect The Pro Leagues?"

Recent Videos

  1. Riot v. Phoenix

  2. Riot vs. Grit

  3. Test Late

  4. Test Current

Recent Events

  1. 2025 Queen City Tune Up
    Mar 26 - Mar 27 | |
  2. 2024 Club Championships
    Oct 24 - Oct 27 |
  3. 2024 D-I College Championships
    May 24 - May 27 | |
  4. Northwest Challenge 2024
    Mar 13 - Mar 19 |
  5. Las Vegas Challenge
    Jan 28 - Jan 31 | |

Subscriber Exclusives

  • Field Pass: Test Match Livestream
    Video for standard subscribers
  • Sin The Fields: #AskSTF, Charlotte’s Jakeem Polk, Pick ‘Em Challenge!
    podcast with bonus segment
  • Test pod post
    Subscriber podcast
  • Test Livewire
    livewire with bonus content