Time for Transformation

A deeper look at our purpose, our values, and the questions we’re asking ourselves.

Hi Everyone!

As part of our ongoing quest to improve ULTI.TV we are considering changing the way we are set up as an organisation. This involves changing our legal entity from a trading name to a separate enterprise. This could be a not for profit organisation, or a mission driven organisation where profits go to the mission, or something else! There is a fair bit to consider in moving to a new legal structure, this is a great opportunity to have a look at what are we really here to do?

In considering this question we need your help. ULTI.TV can not do what we do without you, our supporters, crew members, staff members, commentators, editors, players, fans and everyone in between.

As such you are all important stakeholders in ULTI.TV and we want your input.

So, what are we really here to do?

A deeper look at our purpose, our values, and the questions we’re asking ourselves.

We want to share a picture of the future that keeps returning — something we can’t unsee any more.

Imagine full grandstands for an Ultimate event every weekend, everywhere.
People cycling, driving, taking the train to a local field with a small, charming grandstand or just on the sidelines with camping chairs. Families sharing drinks and food. Kids running around. Dogs. Friends. Players. Supporters.

On the field: Men and womxn playing together. Spirit at the centre. A fair, meaningful game. Players responsible for the calls.

Tickets are cheap because the whole event is sustainable, volunteer-powered, and community-driven. Nobody works too hard, and people love doing it.

Meanwhile, in homes across the world, the matches are native on people’s TV, free to watch. Because ULTI.TV is present with a tent and a polecam next to the field, pointing at the grand stand. People gather around like they do for football or rugby — but with more conversation, more curiosity, more connection. Some watch the stream with commentary; others have it on in the background while cooking or hanging out.

Sports bars show the games are on screens. Usually on mute, so people can have conversations while the games pursue, but during the final game(s) the whole bar hears the commentary. People look up. They pay attention. They cheer. They care.

Imagine this every weekend.
And imagine this in multiple places at the same time.
Not every match needs to be for the world cup — just fair, spirited, and easy to watch.

This is the future we imagine.
And we think many of you imagine it too.

Want to add to this vision? Comment below!

Behind the streams, on the backend, is how it works, we see people being trained on site, in Europe and Australia we’ve built the training grounds and improve them throughout the year, they exchange people for a 4 - 8 weeks or something.

We see our two camera systems in use everywhere around the world, also across the Americas, Asia and Africa. It’s a system that scales. It’s the system that teaches people to point the camera AND direct, follow disc AND make a show finding the people that the commentators talk about or show the colour of the sidelines.

A global system makes it so that there’s able to be support 24/7 available, because the hardware and software is the same.

If that’s the front-end and back-end vision — what are we actually here to do?

So what is ULTI.TV here to do?

Is it to stream games?
To archive history?
To train people?
To tell stories?
To grow the sport? YES HAHA
To support tournaments?
To connect communities?
To keep Ultimate free to watch?

Or is it something deeper?

This is the question we want your help to answer!

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If you extend what ULTI.TV is here to do further, we should also ask:

What kind of culture do we want to build?

A culture of what?

Competition?
Excellence?
Joy?
Inclusion?
Responsibility?
Fun?
Professionalism?
Creativity?
Learning?

Can it be all of these at once?
Can an organisation be deeply creative and deeply responsible?
Can chapters around the world operate independently and stay aligned globally?
How do we stay playful and human while still building professional systems that scale?

We want to make Ultimate huge.

We want to grow Ultimate because it grows us.

Because Ultimate teaches us to lead, listen and communicate.

Your contribution to answering these questions will shape our transformation, after 15 years what does the next 15 hold for us?

Get into the comments below and share your views!

So our final question (well for this post at least):

Who should ultimately control ULTI.TV?

The founders?
The crew?
The chapters?
The community?
The investors?
The mission itself?

We’ve all seen what happens when organisations drift under shareholder pressure or purely commercial priorities. Or when a purpose driven company gets acquired.

Ultimate deserves better.

So we asked ourselves:

What if no one or no company can ever acquire ULTI.TV?
What if the mission is legally untouchable?
What if profits must always be reinvested into the community, new chapters, and global growth?

To answer that, we had to rethink ownership entirely.

Which brings us to our journey of our transformation, we’re writing a blog series about this. Follow along, expect some more blogs on this URL.

Want to answer questions raised, please do, comment below! 👇