Major League Ultimate

Major League Ultimate
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2016 Major League Ultimate season
Sport Ultimate
Founded 2012
Inaugural season 2013
No. of teams 8
Country United States (7 teams)
Canada (1 team)
Continent North America
Most recent
champion(s)		 Philadelphia Spinners (1st title)
Most titles Boston Whitecaps (2)
Official website MLUltimate.com

Major League Ultimate (MLU) is one of two semi-professional Ultimate Frisbee leagues in North America, the other being the American Ultimate Disc League. It is composed of 8 member teams: 7 in the United States and 1 in Canada. It was formed in 2012, and began its inaugural season in April 2013. The season concludes with championship games for the Western and Eastern divisions and a cross-divisional championship game. The most recent champions were the Philadelphia Spinners in 2016.

History

The Philadelphia Spinners left the AUDL at the end of the 2012 season after disagreements on how it was run.[1] With the help of their staff, including former GM Jeff Snader, and a core group of individuals now referred to as the Founders, the MLU was created in 2012.

Rules

The MLU uses most of the standard rules of Ultimate, with multiple adaptations. They play on slightly expanded fields, and double-teaming of an offensive player is allowed. Also unusual for Ultimate, although common in other sports and the AUDL (the other semi-professional Ultimate league), the MLU does use referees to make the calls.[2] With time, more changes to the rules were applied by the MLU [3]

While most Ultimate games use the Ultrastar disc, the MLU uses a slightly different disc, whose design makes it stay in the air longer, leading to more hucks, deep games, and skys [4][5]

Competition Format

The eight teams in the MLU are split into two conferences (East and West). During the regular season, each team plays 10 matches (sometimes including cross-divisional matches). The top two teams from each division advance to a conference final. The winners from these matches then advance to compete in the MLU Championship match.

Media coverage

Highlights of the 2013 championship game were broadcast on Fox Sports 1 as part of an anthology show co-hosted by former NFL player Dhani Jones and Olympic gold medalist Jonny Moseley. ESPN's SportsCenter Top 10 and SportsNation have also featured highlight clips from the MLU, bringing national attention to the league.[6]

In 2016, all games were livestreamed on YouTube and through the MLU website.[7]

Sponsorship

In 2013, Five Ultimate was the official uniform manufacturer for all eight teams.

For the 2014 season, Puma became the official jersey sponsor.[8]

Since 2015, Canterbury has been the official jersey sponsor.[9]

Teams

Teams City/Area Stadium Founded Head Coach(es)
Eastern Conference
Boston Whitecaps Medford, MA Hormel Stadium 2012 Sam Rosenthal [10]
DC Current Washington, DC Cardinal Stadium 2013 Will Smolinski [11]
New York Rumble Orange, NJ Bell Stadium 2013 Anthony Nuñez and Eileen Murray [12]
Philadelphia Spinners Fort Washington, PA Carey Stadium 2012 Darryl Stanley [13]
Western Conference
Portland Stags Milwaukie, OR Milwaukie High School 2013 Danny Quarrell [14]
San Francisco Dogfish Berkeley, CA Yellowjacket Stadium 2013 Jason Seidler [15]
Seattle Rainmakers Renton, WA Renton Memorial Stadium 2013 Kate Kingery and Fiona McKibben [16]
Vancouver Nighthawks Vancouver, BC Thunderbird Stadium 2013 Patrick Gatien [17]

Executive Committee

Name Title
Nic Darling Executive Vice President
Lindi Sabloff Chief Financial Officer
David Kucherlapati Vice President of Operations

Source: [18]

Championships

Season Date Champion Score Runner-Up Venue Location MVP Ref
2013 July 13, 2013 Boston Whitecaps 20–15 San Francisco Dogfish Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA Jeff Graham
(Boston Whitecaps)		 [19]
2014 July 19, 2014 DC Current 23–17 Vancouver Nighthawks PPL Park Chester, PA Markham Shofner
(DC Current)		 [20]
2015 August 8, 2015 Boston Whitecaps 31–17 Seattle Rainmakers PPL Park Chester, PA Jeff Graham
(Boston Whitecaps)		 [21]
2016 July 16, 2016 Philadelphia Spinners 14–11 Portland Stags Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA Charlie McCutcheon
(Philadelphia Spinners)		 [22]
Wins by team
Rank Team Wins Winning years
1 Boston Whitecaps 2 2013, 2015
2 DC Current 1 2014
Philadelphia Spinners 2016

See also

References

  1. ↑ Eisenhood, Charlie (4 October 2012). "Philadelphia Spinners Leaving The AUDL, Starting New Pro League". Ultiworld.
  2. ↑ Gackle, Paul (16 June 2013). "In debut season, San Francisco's Major League Ultimate Frisbee team flourishing". San Francisco Examiner.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ http://mlultimate.com/innova-signs-as-disc-partner/
  5. ↑ http://ultiworld.com/2013/02/28/mlu-signs-exclusive-deal-with-innova-as-official-disc-providers/
  6. ↑ Eisenhood, Charlie (8 June 2013). "MLU, Ultimate Get Praise From ESPN Commentators". Ultiworld.
  7. ↑ http://mlultimate.com/mlu-to-emphasize-live-streaming-coverage-in-2016/
  8. ↑ Eisenhood, Charlie (18 November 2013). "MLU releases new Puma Jersey Designs". Ultiworld.
  9. ↑ Des Marais, Paul (25 March 2015). "MLU Teams Unveil the 2015 Canterbury Uniforms". Ultiworld.
  10. ↑ "Staff – Boston Whitecaps". MLUltimate.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Staff – Washington D.C. Current". MLUltimate.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  12. ↑ Tom Levy (January 20, 2016). "Rumble Announce Nuñez and Murray as Co-Head Coaches for 2016". MLUltimate.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Staff – Philadelphia Spinners". MLUltimate.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Staff – Portland Stags". MLUltimate.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Staff – San Francisco Dogfish". MLUltimate.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  16. ↑ Tom Levy (February 20, 2016). "Fiona McKibben and Kate Kingery named Co-Head Coaches of Seattle Rainmakers". MLUltimate.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Staff – Vancouver Nighthawks". MLUltimate.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Executive Comm". MLUltimate.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  19. ↑ Major League Ultimate 2013 Championship Game. Major League Ultimate. July 13, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  20. ↑ 2014 Major League Ultimate Championship - DC Current vs. Vancouver Nighthawks. Major League Ultimate. July 19, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  21. ↑ MLU Championship 2015 - Seattle Rainmakers vs Boston Whitecaps. Major League Ultimate. August 8, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  22. ↑ Villanova Stadium to Host 2016 MLU Championship. Major League Ultimate. May 29, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
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