American Ultimate Disc League

American Ultimate Disc League

Current season, competition or edition: 2016 American Ultimate Disc League season
Sport	Ultimate
Founded	2010
Inaugural season	2012
No. of teams	26
Country	United States (22 teams) Canada (4 teams)
Most recent champion(s)	San Jose Spiders (2nd title)
Most titles	San Jose Spiders (2)
Official website	theAUDL.com

The American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) is one of two professional level ultimate frisbee leagues in North America, the other being Major League Ultimate. It was founded by Josh Moore, and its inaugural season began in April 2012 with eight teams. Regular season games are played during the months of April through July. The playoffs consist of division championships and culminate with a championship game in August.^[1]

About

The first AUDL game was won by the Connecticut Constitution on April 14, 2012 over the Rhode Island Rampage by a score of 29 to 22, and the first goal was scored by Brent Anderson of the Constitution.^[2] The first ever championship was held on July 11, 2012 and was won by the Philadelphia Spinners by a score of 29 to 22 over the Indianapolis AlleyCats.

In the first season, the league consisted of eight teams broken into the Eastern and Western conferences. Jonathan 'Goose' Helton of the AlleyCats was named league MVP for the inaugural season. Helton, alongside Evan Boucher, Cameron Brock, Rob Dulabon, Dave Hochholter, John Korber, and Jake Rainwater were named to the first All-AUDL Team.

For the 2013 season, the Indianapolis AlleyCats and the Detroit Mechanix were the only teams from the 2012 season to remain in their cities, while the Bluegrass Revolution relocated from Lexington, KY to Cincinnati, OH.^[3] Even with only three teams left, the league still managed to expand to twelve teams overall.^[4]

In 2014, the league expanded to 17 teams, including the introduction of the West Division.^[5] The league also reached a multi-year broadcasting deal with ESPN3 that covered 14 regular season games, a playoff game, and the Championship Weekend.^[6]

In 2015, the league expanded to its current 25 teams. The new expansion teams consisted of the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds, Ottawa Outlaws, Los Angeles Aviators, San Diego Growlers, Jacksonville Cannons, Nashville Nightwatch, Raleigh Flyers, Atlanta Hustle and Charlotte Express. In March 2015, the Salt Lake Lions announced that they would be suspending operations for the entire 2015 season; leaving the West Conference with only 6 teams. In October 2015, the AUDL announced that the Lions franchise had been bought back by the league, making that hiatus permanent. In the same announcement, the league welcomed the Austin Sol and Dallas Roughnecks to the South Division.^[7] Shortly thereafter, the AUDL announced that the Rochester Dragons franchise was also being contracted and that the league was again hoping to start a franchise in the Boston area.^[8]

Rules

The AUDL features a number of rule changes from the traditional set of rules laid out and established by USA Ultimate.

The field area has been expanded to 53 ¹⁄₃ yards wide and 80 yards long with 20 yard end zones (the same size as an American football field, but with the end zones taking up twice as much of the field as in American football). Games are timed with four quarters of 12 minutes each, including a 15-minute halftime. If the score is tied, a five-minute overtime period is played. If the score remains tied after overtime, a second overtime is played in which the first team to score wins.

Notable changes from the USAU format include the use of referees, a drop in the stall count from 10 seconds to 7, a ten-yard penalty for traveling when catching the disc, no prohibition of double-teams, and a turnover for traveling when throwing the disc.^[9] There are also other infractions, such as too much physicality, that result in 5-, 10-, or 20-yard penalties depending on the severity of the infraction.

Controversy

2012 Lawsuit

In May 2012, the AUDL announced its plans for expansion for the following season, including franchises in New Jersey, New York, and Boston. Owners of the Connecticut Constitution and Rhode Island Rampage contended that the Boston and New York franchises impinged upon their Territory Licensing Agreements, which specified a non-compete radius of 100 miles. Separately, the league compensated the Philadelphia Spinners for the encroachment of the New Jersey and New York franchises. Negotiations between the Constitution, the Rampage, and the league reached an impasse in early June and the franchises' owners threatened legal action. The league preemptively sued the owners on June 17. As negotiations wore on, the league (at least twice) offered various settlements to the owners of the Constitution and the Rampage, but those offers were rejected. On July 5, the Constitution suspended team operations due to legal fees, missing two games. The league then fined the team the maximum fine of $10,000 per game, which Constitution owner Bryan Ricci called “severe and excessive” and refused to pay. Both the Constitution and Rampage had games cancelled near the end of the season.^[10] The Constitution would have earned a playoff berth but were disqualified due to their unpaid fines and the Rampage advanced in their place, losing to the Philadelphia Spinners in the Division final.

In December, 2012, the league and team owners reached a settlement. Details of the settlement are unknown due to a non-disclosure agreement.^[11] Neither the Rampage nor the Connecticut Constitution returned to the AUDL in 2013.

Teams

As of the 2016 season, 26 active teams compete in four divisions: East, Midwest, West, and South. There are 22 teams from the continental United States and 4 from Canada.

Active teams

Team	City/Area	Stadium	Founded	First Season
East
DC Breeze	Washington, DC	Hotchkiss Field[12]	2013	2013
Montreal Royal	Montreal, QC	Percival Molson Memorial Stadium[13]	2013	2014
New York Empire	Brooklyn, NY	MCU Park	2013	2013
Ottawa Outlaws	Ottawa, ON	Keith Harris Stadium	2014	2015
Philadelphia Phoenix	Philadelphia, PA	A. A. Garthwaite Stadium[14]	2013	2013
Toronto Rush	Toronto, ON	Varsity Stadium	2013	2013
Midwest
Chicago Wildfire	Lisle, IL	Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex	2013 (as Windy City Wildfire)	2013
Cincinnati Revolution	Cincinnati, OH	Sheakley Athletic Center	2012 (as the Bluegrass Revolution)	2013
Detroit Mechanix	Pontiac, MI	Ultimate Soccer Arenas	2010	2012
Indianapolis AlleyCats	Indianapolis, IN	Kuntz Stadium	2012	2012
Madison Radicals	Madison, WI	Breese Stevens Field	2013	2013
Minnesota Wind Chill	St. Paul, MN	Sea Foam Stadium	2013	2013
Pittsburgh Thunderbirds	Pittsburgh, PA	Founder's Field	2014	2015
West
Los Angeles Aviators	Los Angeles, CA	Occidental College	2014	2015
San Diego Growlers	San Diego, CA	Junipero Serra High School/Balboa Stadium	2014	2015
San Francisco FlameThrowers	Oakland, CA	Laney College Football Field[15]	2013	2014
San Jose Spiders	Los Altos Hills, CA	Foothill College[16]	2013	2014
Seattle Cascades	Seattle, WA	Seattle Memorial Stadium	2014 (as the Seattle Raptors)	2015
Vancouver Riptide	Vancouver, BC	Swangard Stadium[17]	2013	2014
South
Atlanta Hustle	Atlanta, GA	Grady Stadium	2015	2015
Charlotte Express	Charlotte, NC	East Mecklenburg High School	2014	2015
Jacksonville Cannons	Jacksonville, FL	Trinity Christian Academy	2014	2015
Nashville NightWatch	Nashville, TN	John Overton High School	2014	2015
Raleigh Flyers	Raleigh, NC	WakeMed Soccer Park	2014	2015
Austin Sol	Austin, TX		2015	2016
Dallas Roughnecks	Dallas, TX		2015	2016

Former Teams

Team	City/Area	Stadium	Season(s)	Status
Buffalo Hunters	Orchard Park, NY	Orchard Park High School Sports Complex	2012	Rebranded in 2013 as Rochester Dragons
Rochester Dragons	Rochester, NY	Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium	2013-2015	Contracted after 2015[8]
Columbus Cranes	Westerville, Ohio	Warhawks Stadium	2012	Folded after 2012 season
Connecticut Constitution	New Britain, CT	Arute Field	2012	Folded after 2012 season
New Jersey Hammerheads[18]	West Windsor Township, NJ	Mercer County Community College Stadium	2013	Folded after 2013 season
Philadelphia Spinners	Philadelphia, PA	Franklin Field	2012	Left after 2012 season[19] Joined MLU in 2013
Rhode Island Rampage	East Providence, RI	Pierce Memorial Field	2012	Folded after 2012 season
Bluegrass Revolution	Lexington, KY		2012	Rebranded in 2013 to Cincinnati Revolution
Seattle Raptors	Seattle, WA	Renton Memorial Stadium	2014	Rebranded in 2015 to Seattle Cascades
Salt Lake Lions	Salt Lake City, UT		2014	Were on hiatus in 2015 and dissolved before the 2016 American Ultimate Disc League season.

Championships

Year	Date	Champion	Score	Runner-Up	Venue	Location
2012	August 11, 2012[20]	Philadelphia Spinners	29–22	Indianapolis AlleyCats	Pontiac Silverdome	Pontiac, MI
2013	August 4, 2013[21]	Toronto Rush	16–14	Madison Radicals	Lane Tech Stadium	Chicago, IL[22]
2014	July 27, 2014[23]	San Jose Spiders	28–18	Toronto Rush	Varsity Stadium	Toronto, ON
2015	August 9, 2015[24]	San Jose Spiders	17–15	Madison Radicals	Avaya Stadium	San Jose, CA
2016	August 7, 2016[25]				Breese Stevens Field	Madison, WI

MVP

Year	Name	Team
2012	Jonathan "Goose" Helton	Indianapolis AlleyCats
2013	Jonathan "Goose" Helton	Windy City Wildfire
2014	Beau Kittredge	San Jose Spiders
2015	Beau Kittredge	San Jose Spiders

See Also

Major League Ultimate

References

1. "Full Schedule". theAUDL.com. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
2. "Week 1 Results". American Ultimate Disc League. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
3. "Philadelphia Spinners Leave AUDL". Skyd Magazine. 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
4. "AUDL Teams". American Ultimate Disc League. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
5. "AUDL Announces 2014 Expansion To West Coast, Montreal". Ultiworld. 2013-10-25. Retrieved 2014-11-25.
6. "AUDL Signs Multi-Year Broadcast Agreement with ESPN". American Ultimate Disc League. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
7. "Austin, Dallas Joining AUDL’s South Division In 2016". Ultiworld. 2015-10-08. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
8. "AUDL Announces Contraction of Rochester Dragons Franchise". AUDL. 2015-10-29. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
9. "AUDL 101". American Ultimate Disc League. Retrieved 2012-04-15.
10. "A Timeline Of The AUDL Lawsuit: How Did We Get Here?". Ultiworld. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
11. "AUDL Settles Lawsuit With Connnecticut and Rhode Island Franchises". Ultiworld. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
12. "THE BREEZE RETURN TO DC PROPER IN 2015". DC Breeze. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
13. "Billets « Royal de Montréal". Royalultimate.com. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
14. "Venue". Rochester Dragons. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
15. "Venue". SF FlameThrowers. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
16. "San Jose Spiders Ultimate Team – TICKETS". Sjspiders.com. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
17. "about « Vancouver Riptide". Vancouverriptide.com. 2013-11-21. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
18. "New Jersey AUDL Franchise Folds, DC Franchise Avoids Same Fate With New Investor". Ultiworld. 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
19. "AUDL President Talks About 2013 Season, Spinners, Major League Ultimate". Ultiworld. 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
20. "Philadelphia Wins Inaugural AUDL Championship". Skyd Magazine. 2012-08-20. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
21. "2013 AUDL Championship Final Highlights". YouTube. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
22. "AUDL Championship Weekend Preview". Skyd Magazine. 2013-08-02. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
23. "Instant Reaction: The AUDL Moves Championship Up to Toronto". Ultiworld. 2013-11-27. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
24. "2015 AUDL Championship". AUDL. 2015-08-09. Retrieved 2015-08-10.
25. "Breese Stevens Field To Host 2016 AUDL Championship Weekend". AUDL. 2016-01-04. Retrieved 2016-01-05.