June 24, 2020
Today the American Ultimate Disc League announced it has canceled the 2020 AUDL season. This year would have marked the ninth season of professional ultimate in the sports entertainment world.
After announcing the postponement of the regular season in March due to growing concerns over the community spread of COVID19 and its potential impact on the health and safety of AUDL players, officials, staff and fans, league leadership began to explore a number of scenarios to hold a shortened season in 2020. The health and safety of our community served as the single guiding principle in the rigorous evaluation of all options as we sought to fulfil our business goals of continuing to entertain our passionate fans and provide a platform for our talented athletes to showcase their skills.
The league created a Covid Task Force made up of doctors, epidemiologists and health professionals to develop safety protocols and provide expert medical advice to the league’s leadership about the rapidly developing information concerning the pandemic. The league considered a number of options to return to play in 2020 and continued to evolve its thinking as more information about the disease emerged and other professional sports leagues announced the details of their plans.
A thorough and well researched plan was presented to AUDL players and owners late last week. Following a period of open discussions with players and league personnel, the AUDL executive council decided that holding a 2020 season was not the right decision.
We would like to thank all AUDL players, officials, staff and owners for their thoughtfulness and creative suggestions as we sought to safely bring back ultimate over the last four months. We owe special gratitude to the dedicated members who served on our COVID Task Force for their diligent and expedient work in developing medical protocols for the safe return to training, practice and play. Their work has informed the league in many ways and will prove invaluable in the years to come.
We’d also like to thank our media and marketing partners for their patience and support as we explored all possible avenues for a safe continuation to play. Presenting Partner Deschutes Brewery, Tiger Balm, Discraft, Savage Apparel, Layout Gloves, Fox Sports, Fulcrum Media, Maestroe Sports and Spectra Partnerships have all been amazing partners during this dynamic process.
We would like to express our most sincere gratitude to all of the AUDL fans who have attended our live events, enjoyed our broadcasts, and joined our community on social media—your amazing support has kept us spirited.
We can’t wait to be playing ultimate again!
