The 2026 Ultimate Frisbee Association season was the league's fourteenth and third since rebranding as the UFA. It began on April 24, 2026 and culminated in Championship Weekend at Breese Stevens Field in Madison, Wisconsin on August 27–28, 2026. The Oakland Spiders won the championship, defeating the Minnesota Wind Chill. Oakland's win was their third, including two victories as the San Jose Spiders in 2014 and 2015, becoming the second team in league history to win three championships. Minnesota lost their second final in a row after winning the title in 2024. Oakland's Walker Frankenberg took home Championship Weekend MVP honors, while Boston's Tobe Decraene won the league MVP award for the second year in a row.
Games were broadcast on the league's streaming platform, WatchUFA.tv, with one game per week broadcast for free on YouTube as part of the "Friday Night Frisbee" program.
Preseason
Following the 2025 season, the Los Angeles Aviators and the Detroit Mechanix ceased operations and left the league. Detroit's departure left the Indianapolis AlleyCats as the only active franchise that has been with the league since the founding of the AUDL in 2012. The divisions were rebalanced, with the Vegas Bighorns moving from the West to the South division. The Colorado Summit rebranded as the Colorado Apex after giving up their former name to a new NWSL team in Denver.
A larger-than-usual number of coaching positions turned over during the offseason: Austin replaced Steven Naji with Casey Hogg, a former player, and Joe Iannacone. Chicago's Dave Woods stepped down, leaving his co-coach Charlie Furse alone in charge Joe Durst took over in Colorado, with team executive Tim Kefalas stepping back into an assistant position. DC's Lauren Boyle left by mutual consent; she was replaced by Xavier Maxstadt, an assistant coach with the Breeze for several years. Bex Forth, head coach in Houston since their 2023 debut, announced she would not be returning; Sean McCall was appointed for the 2026 season. Indianapolis fired Drew Shepherd and appointed Nathan Bussburg in his place. Max Browski left Pittsburgh by mutual consent after four years, replaced by David Berg, Browski's assistant and a former player. In Philadelphia, Adam Callaghan replaced David Brandolph, becoming the Phoenix's third head coach in three seasons. Oakland's Caleb Merriam stepped down for personal reasons; Liam Kreiss takes his place behind the bench. Vegas lost their head coach Matt Bode near the beginning of the 2025 season, leaving assistant coach Dan Silverstein in charge; Ryan Courtney takes over for 2026.
Rule changes
The following rule changes went into effect for the 2026 season: If the defense commits a foul in the last five seconds of a quarter, they are no longer allowed to set a double-team on the thrower during the restart. If a defensive foul is called in the end zone but a goal is still scored, a 10-yard penalty will be added to the ensuing pull. A "team technical" foul (and 20-yard penalty) can be assessed on the head coach if the referees determine that there is a pattern of "behavior detrimental to the game" across an entire team, rather than any individual player. Officials have been directed to apply a zero-tolerance policy on jersey tugging; one-game suspensions will be awarded on any incident, including those found through post-game video review.
Regular season Week 1 DateHomeGoalsGoalsAwayOT4/24Houston Havoc1329Atlanta Hustle4/24San Diego Growlers2022Carolina Flyers4/25Austin Sol2726Atlanta Hustle2OT4/25Boston Glory2116DC Breeze4/25Vegas Bighorns1226Carolina Flyers4/26Oakland Spiders3411Oregon Steel
Week 2 DateHomeGoalsGoalsAwayOT5/1New York Empire2415Toronto Rush5/1Salt Lake Shred2314Oregon Steel5/2Houston Havoc2022Austin SolOT5/2Philadelphia Phoenix1724Toronto Rush5/2Minnesota Wind Chill2212Chicago Union5/2Oakland Spiders2515Salt Lake Shred5/2Boston Glory2215Montreal Royal5/2Seattle Cascades2714Colorado Apex5/3DC Breeze2018Montreal Royal5/3Oregon Steel1820Colorado Apex
Week 3 DateHomeGoalsGoalsAwayOT5/8Vegas Bighorns1230Atlanta Hustle5/9Carolina Flyers3114Philadelphia Phoenix5/9Austin Sol2815Houston Havoc5/9San Diego Growlers1615Atlanta Hustle5/9Indianapolis AlleyCats1819Madison Radicals5/9Toronto Rush1817Montreal Royal5/9Seattle Cascades1626Oakland Spiders5/9Colorado Apex1626Salt Lake Shred5/10Oregon Steel1324Oakland Spiders5/10Pittsburgh Thunderbirds2432Montreal Royal5/10New York Empire2526DC BreezeOT
Week 4 DateHomeGoalsGoalsAwayOT5/15Houston Havoc1513Vegas Bighorns5/15DC Breeze3216Colorado Apex5/15Indianapolis AlleyCats1321Minnesota Wind Chill5/15Pittsburgh Thunderbirds1721Madison Radicals5/16Atlanta Hustle2322Carolina Flyers2OT5/16Austin Sol258Vegas Bighorns5/16New York Empire3114Colorado Apex5/16Chicago Union1520Minnesota Wind Chill5/16Montreal Royal1921Boston GloryOT5/16Oregon Steel1218Seattle Cascades5/17Oakland Spiders2515San Diego Growlers
Week 5 DateHomeGoalsGoalsAwayOT5/23Carolina Flyers1812Atlanta Hustle5/23DC Breeze1418New York Empire5/23Vegas Bighorns1726San Diego Growlers5/23Montreal Royal1621Toronto Rush5/24Boston Glory2811Philadelphia Phoenix
Week 6 DateHomeGoalsGoalsAwayOT5/29New York Empire3411Pittsburgh Thunderbirds5/29Colorado Apex2421Oregon Steel5/29Indianapolis AlleyCats2320Chicago Union5/29Toronto Rush1823DC Breeze5/30Atlanta Hustle2126Carolina Flyers5/30Houston Havoc1324Seattle Cascades5/30Salt Lake Shred3417Oregon Steel5/30Montreal Royal1723DC Breeze5/30Philadelphia Phoenix2324Pittsburgh Thunderbirds2OT5/30Oakland Spiders2317San Diego Growlers5/31Madison Radicals2023Minnesota Wind Chill5/31Toronto Rush1618Boston Glory5/31Austin Sol2520Seattle Cascades
Week 7 DateHomeGoalsGoalsAwayOT6/5Boston Glory1721New York Empire6/5Chicago Union1816Madison Radicals6/5DC Breeze2422Carolina Flyers6/5San Diego Growlers1920Austin SolOT6/5Salt Lake Shred2223Colorado Apex6/6Vegas Bighorns1127Austin Sol6/6Montreal Royal1418New York Empire6/6Philadelphia Phoenix1417Boston Glory6/6Pittsburgh Thunderbirds1731Carolina Flyers6/6Minnesota Wind Chill2319Indianapolis AlleyCats6/6Oakland Spiders2315Colorado Apex
With their first win of the season, Chicago became the seventh franchise in UFA history to reach 100 wins.
Week 8 DateHomeGoalsGoalsAwayOT6/12Atlanta Hustle2914Houston Havoc6/12New York Empire1517Boston GloryOT6/12Oakland Spiders1819Minnesota Wind Chill6/12Oregon Steel1825Salt Lake Shred6/13Carolina Flyers3211Houston Havoc6/13DC Breeze1827Boston Glory6/13Vegas Bighorns1234Minnesota Wind Chill6/13Philadelphia Phoenix2221Montreal Royal6/13Toronto Rush3311Pittsburgh Thunderbirds6/13Colorado Apex2122San Diego Growlers6/13Seattle Cascades2019Salt Lake Shred6/14Madison Radicals1817Indianapolis AlleyCats6/14Pittsburgh Thunderbirds2218Chicago Union
After winning their first seven games by an average of 11 goals, Oakland suffered their first loss of the season to the Wind Chill. However, with Colorado's loss to San Diego, Oakland also became the first team to qualify for the playoffs.
Week 9 DateHomeGoalsGoalsAwayOT6/18Madison Radicals1923Salt Lake Shred6/19Atlanta Hustle2716Vegas Bighorns6/19Austin Sol2120San Diego Growlers2OT6/19Minnesota Wind Chill2016Salt Lake Shred6/19Montreal Royal2518Philadelphia Phoenix6/19Oregon Steel2221Toronto RushOT6/20Carolina Flyers2715Vegas Bighorns6/20Boston Glory3014Philadelphia Phoenix6/20Houston Havoc2023San Diego Growlers6/20Indianapolis AlleyCats1813Chicago Union6/20Seattle Cascades1722Toronto Rush6/21Chicago Union1115Madison Radicals
The following teams qualified for the playoffs this week: Austin (victory over San Diego), Minnesota (victory over Salt Lake), Boston (Toronto's loss to Oregon), Carolina (victory over Vegas). Austin's overtime win, their fourth of the season, set a new record for overtime wins by a single team in a season.
Week 10 DateHomeGoalsGoalsAwayOT6/26Carolina Flyers2120Atlanta HustleOT6/26Colorado Apex1726Oakland Spiders6/26Vegas Bighorns1113Houston Havoc6/26Seattle Cascades2018Oregon Steel6/27Salt Lake Shred1920Oakland Spiders6/27San Diego Growlers2515Houston Havoc6/27Indianapolis AlleyCats1721Madison Radicals
Week 11 DateHomeGoalsGoalsAwayOT7/1Philadelphia Phoenix1728New York Empire7/3Colorado Apex1118Seattle Cascades7/3Madison Radicals1831Indianapolis AlleyCats7/3Minnesota Wind Chill2516Chicago Union7/3Philadelphia Phoenix1721DC Breeze7/4Salt Lake Shred2223Seattle CascadesOT7/4San Diego Growlers2818Vegas Bighorns7/5Chicago Union2024Indianapolis AlleyCats7/5Pittsburgh Thunderbirds1926Minnesota Wind Chill7/5Montreal Royal1817Toronto Rush
Colorado's loss to Seattle eliminated Colorado from playoff contention, meaning that Seattle and Salt Lake qualified. DC's win plus Toronto's loss means that DC can't finish worse than third, but does not mathematically eliminate Toronto.
Week 12 DateHomeGoalsGoalsAwayOT7/10Carolina Flyers21 20 Austin Sol7/10Chicago Union18 31 New York Empire7/10Madison Radicals31 19 Pittsburgh Thunderbirds7/10Oregon Steel18 23 Seattle Cascades7/11Atlanta Hustle2022Austin Sol7/11DC Breeze2817Philadelphia Phoenix7/11Indianapolis AlleyCats2414Pittsburgh Thunderbirds7/11Minnesota Wind Chill2021Boston Glory7/12Toronto Rush24 30 New York Empire
All remaining playoff spots were settled this week: New York (victory over Chicago), Madison (victory over Pittsburgh), Indianapolis (victory over Pittsburgh), and San Diego (Atlanta's loss to Austin) qualified for the playoffs, although seeding is still to be determined in some cases. Austin and Minnesota, the two remaining undefeated teams, both lost a game.
Week 13 DateHomeGoalsGoalsAwayOT7/17Houston Havoc1521Austin Sol7/17Madison Radicals2114Chicago Union7/17New York Empire3720Philadelphia Phoenix7/17Salt Lake Shred1922Oakland Spiders7/18Atlanta Hustle2224DC Breeze7/18Colorado Apex2029Oakland Spiders7/18Austin Sol2315Houston Havoc7/18Boston Glory2511Montreal Royal7/18San Diego Growlers3412Vegas Bighorns7/18Chicago Unioncancelled Pittsburgh Thunderbirds7/18Toronto Rush2817Indianapolis AlleyCats7/18Seattle Cascades2224Oregon Steel7/19Pittsburgh Thunderbirds25 29 Indianapolis AlleyCats7/19Minnesota Wind Chill23 16 Madison Radicals
Standings
Standings are first sorted by win-loss record. Ties are broken by head-to-head record, head-to-head goal difference, and if necessary, Adjusted Division Point Differential.
Central TeamQualificationMinnesota Wind Chill 11 1 +79 First round byeMadison Radicals 7 5 +3 PlayoffsIndianapolis AlleyCats 6 6 +10Pittsburgh Thunderbirds 2 9 -99Chicago Union 1 10 -61
East TeamQualificationBoston Glory 11 1 +74 First round byeNew York Empire 10 2 +105 PlayoffsDC Breeze 9 3 +31Toronto Rush 6 6 +27Montreal Royal 3 9 -26Philadelphia Phoenix 1 11 -110
West TeamQualificationOakland Spiders 11 1 +105 First round byeSeattle Cascades 8 4 +24 PlayoffsSalt Lake Shred 5 7 +20Colorado Apex 3 9 -84Oregon Steel 2 10 -82
South TeamQualificationAustin Sol 11 1 +71 First round byeCarolina Flyers 10 2 +90 PlayoffsSan Diego Growlers 7 5 +36Atlanta Hustle 5 7 +43Houston Havoc 2 10 -101Vegas Bighorns 0 12 -155
Postseason
The first round of the playoffs was hosted by the #2 seed in each division. Division Championship games were hosted by the #1 seed. After the four division winners were crowned, teams were re-seeded based on win/loss record and goal differential in order to determine the matchups at Championship Weekend.
Minnesota v Austin's 52-goal semifinal marked the most goals scored in a playoff game since 2018, when the Dallas Roughnecks and New York Empire combined for 62 goals.
Oakland continued their record of having never lost a game at Championship Weekend.
Instead of a third-place game, Championship Weekend featured an all-star game featuring a team of players from the Western Ultimate League against a team of players from the Premier Ultimate League for the second consecutive year. The PUL all-stars won the game, 20–18.
Season Awards
Sources:
An asterisk (*) indicates a unanimous selection.