WFDF 2016 World Ultimate Championships Finals from London to be Uplinked Free for Int. Broadcasters
16 June 2016
In addition to 20+ games on Livestream.com and exclusive North American telecast on CBS Sports Network
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) is pleased to announce that the telecast of the Finals of the WFDF 2016 World Ultimate and Guts Championships from London will be available for free on an unencrypted European satellite on Saturday 25 June at 18:00 London time (GMT+1).
The 9Mhz feed will be on Eutelsat 10A, comprised of 12 segments (with 11 internal commercial pods) and a Total Run Time of 88:00. The event will air exclusively on CBS Sports Network in the United States and Canada at 4:00—6:00pm EDT and 9:00—11:00pm PDT but is available to international television networks interested in broadcasting the production in countries outside of North America, with WFDF permission.
Beginning Sunday June 19, select round-robin, quarterfinal, semifinal, and finals competition will be presented on the leading online platform Livestream.com, featuring multi-camera coverage, live commentary, and high-quality graphics. Livestream.com will archive the competitions through April, 2017. The livestream broadcasts will also be available on http://wfdf.org/live and the WFDF Facebook page, (http://www.facebook.com/worldflyingdisc).
The quadrennial World Ultimate and Guts Championships (http://www.wugc2016.com) will be held at the University College London Sports Ground (St. Albans), with the final day’s competition to take place at Allianz Park (Hendon). Nearly 3,000 athletes from 39 countries are expected to participate in the men’s, women’s, mixed gender, and masters divisions. The World Ultimate Championships, held since 1983, are the premier world championships of the sport of Flying Disc, which has an estimated 7.5 million active players worldwide.
“We are very excited to share for free—not behind a paywall—20 games from preliminary rounds online and a world-class telecast of the Finals, free to international broadcasters, of ultimate’s world championships,” stated Robert “Nob” Rauch, WFDF President. “For WFDF, this is our most significant international coverage to date, reflecting the growth and recognition of the sport. Free, multi-bandwidth streaming, viewable globally in real time, along with a telecast highlighting the Finals, are key elements in our strategy to raise the profile of the sport as we continue our search for a global brand sponsor.”
The production team is led by network veteran Tim Rockwood (WFDF’s Managing Director of Broadcasting and Marketing) and Rauch as Executive Producers, Elliot Trotter of Skyd Magazine as Director, and Mike Palmer of ulti.tv and Skyd Productions as Technical Director. Veteran ultimate commentators Evan Lepler, Bryan Jones, and Megan Molteni lead the on-air team.
For more information, please contact:
Tim Rockwood
Managing Director, Broadcasting and Marketing
World Flying Disc Federation
+1-301-807-9011 •
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Latest WFDF Communiques
24 March 2020 - Official Communication 
Health and safety concerns due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outweigh all other factors
After consultation with medical experts and the various Tournament Organizing Committees (TOCs), the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) today announced that it is cancelling or postponing all scheduled world championship events for at least the next six months of 2020, due to the impact of the Covid-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic. This decision takes into consideration first and foremost the safety and health of WFDF athletes, in addition to the uncertainties around the spread of this disease, and resulted after extensive deliberations this last weekend among the Executive Committee of WFDF’s board, staff, and WFDF Medical Officer, Dr. Jamie Nuwer. This decision will affect the following events, at minimum: the WFDF 2020 World Ultimate & Guts Championships (11-18 July in the Netherlands), the WFDF 2020 World Junior Ultimate Championships (18-25 July in Sweden), and the WFDF 2020 World Masters Ultimate Championships (5-12 September in Australia).
“We regret having to take this extraordinary decision, but the health and safety of our athletes, team support, volunteers, staff, and spectators is our paramount concern,” stated WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “We know that this decision will disappoint many athletes who have been extensively training for these competitions, but it is difficult to imagine moving forward given the current environment of border shutdowns, individual lockdowns, and other exceptional governmental actions. We appreciate the understanding of our incredible TOCs who have been working on these events for the last three years. Further, WFDF appreciates all of the medical personnel around the world, working tirelessly at reducing and eradicating this unprecedented threat, and we are in solidarity with the whole of society to contain the virus.”
WFDF is currently in consultation with the TOCs to discuss alternatives. WFDF Vice President and Chair of the Ultimate Committee, Brian Gisel, stated “We are looking at the possibility of postponing the World Masters Ultimate Championships to September 2021. It may be far more difficult to postpone to next year either the World Junior Ultimate Championships or the World Ultimate & Guts Championships, given the already crowded summer schedule featuring The World Games, World Under-24 Ultimate Championships, and the World Championships of Beach Ultimate. We are considering the possibility of a smaller event toward year-end that could serve as a qualifying event for The World Games, which are being held 15-25 July 2021 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. We will continue to evaluate the rearrangement of the WFDF schedule, and will remain flexible as events warrant, with the hope of resuming normal operations as soon as possible.”
With regard to team fees and player fees that have already been paid, WFDF is instructing the TOCs to use all unspent funds or prepaid amounts that can be reclaimed from the vendors and suppliers of the events in order to reimburse teams and players, to the extent possible. WFDF appreciates the patience of the teams and athletes as the TOCs work through this complex process over the coming month. We ask the teams to follow instructions supplied via email on the appropriate channels to ask questions and seek information, instead of emailing the TOCs or WFDF directly.
Nothing is more important to WFDF than the health and safety of its athletes, staff, and spectators. WFDF continues to observe the precautions and practices recommended by public health experts. We encourage the entire Flying Disc community to follow the advice of your local authorities as to best practices in this difficult situation, and refer you to the World Health Organization for definitive guidance: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public WFDF sends its best wishes to all individuals and communities that are affected by Covid-19.
WFDF will provide additional updates as new information develops. 20 March 2020 - Official Communication
Consideration of the impact from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
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05 March 2020 - Official Communication
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21 February 2020 - Official Communication
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21 January 2020 - Official Communication
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) has released a new version of the Appendix to the Rules of Ultimate 2017. The new version came into effect as of 1 January 2020.
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● Change the name of the "Men's" Division to the "Open" Division
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The new appendix can be found here.
08 January 2020 - Official Communication
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) has nominated Finland’s Disc Golf team in the annual World Games Athlete of the Year competition. The award honors an athlete or a team for their outstanding performance in 2019 or for their social commitment or particularly fair behavior. We direct everyone to the following site and voting for “Flying Disc – Team Finland” at https://www.theworldgames.org/awards/Athlete-of-the-Year-2019-70.
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07 January 2020 - Official Communication
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The complete Press Release with results and biographies can be found here. 07 January 2020 - Official Communication
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