Learn more about Ultiworld's new video subscriptions.
November 3, 2014 by Charlie Eisenhood in Video with 70 comments
Dear Readers,
As many of you know, NexGen recently announced that they would be ceasing operations.
That’s disappointing to ultimate fans for obvious reasons, and we extend a huge thank you to Kevin Minderhout and the NexGen team for pioneering high quality video production in ultimate, truly making a difference in how we watch and understand the sport, and inspiring some of our work.
That decision reflects, in part, just how difficult it is to survive in the Ultimate media ecosystem; sadly, Ultiworld is not immune to the same financial pressure. It is expensive and time consuming to do video work for either live or post-produced consumption. But we know that teams want and need video to share among each other, discuss, and learn. We want to continue to be a leader in the ultimate video sphere. The question is: how can we make that financially sustainable and fair for both Ultiworld and teams, fans, and players?
Neither extreme (making everyone on the team pay $5 per game, or having one person pay $5 and sharing with the entire team, which we are very aware is a problem) seems fair. So we created subscription plans that are — you can check out the details below.
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Before asking the community to buy into our new video packages, we thought it would be useful to share some information about our business model. Ultiworld has serious expenses. We pay for flights for reporters to travel to tournaments. We pay columnists and video analysts to offer insight. We pay staff members to help us sell ads, edit video, and manage production. In fact, the only people unpaid at Ultiworld are the founders and editors (Charlie, Sean, and Orion), who volunteer in addition to their day jobs.
We’ve considered a few options for raising enough revenue to keep our video operations afloat. One was to start paywalling our top content (creating an insider subscription for top columns and video analysis). We considered returning to a pay-per-view livestream model and we thought about trying to design complicated technological solutions to stop illegal sharing.
We’ve decided instead to opt for subscription-based access to video-on-demand and absolutely, 100% free livestreaming:
– College teams are heavily encouraged to purchase the College Team Pack. This is a great deal! See details below.
– Fans, club players, and others are strongly encouraged to purchase the 2015 College Subscription. This is similar to the season pass from last season, though a bit more expensive.
– We will offer tournament packages for some, but not all, tournaments, and the prices will be increased. If you want all of our college video, you will need to purchase the subscription that reflects your use.
– We will continue to live stream games for free, and the written content on our website will be free! This new model helps us keep almost all of our content freely available.
We think this structure can work for us and be good for Ultimate. People new to the sport (or parents and friends) can access our website for free and watch a big college tournament live stream for free. That allows us to get maximum quantity of exposure as we continue to try to subsidize our costs with advertising revenue (which we actively work really hard to do!). In contrast, the transition to advertiser-supported model will never occur so long as streams are pure pay-per-view.
But to be clear about one thing: We want to be a business, not a charity. If you enjoy our work, enjoy our products, and think we contribute to the Ultimate community, please treat us accordingly and purchase a package that reflects your use. If you use the website for columns, news, and analysis, consider purchasing a pass so we can continue to subsidize that work as well. We’re also appealing to the community to be proactive about sustaining our work. Sharing a login may seem like no big deal, but we are a small enough business that (literally) every sale matters.
Here are the available subscriptions.
College Team Pack
– Unlimited college video access for every player and coach on your team
– Includes a 15% discount at Friction Gloves for orders of 15 or more pairs
– Includes a 50% discount on any season from Rise Up’s professional instructional video collection
– Includes a chance to win private video analysis for your college team by Ultiworld’s video analysis team
– Includes a chance to submit practice, captaining, and strategy questions to Ultiworld’s Coaches Corner
– Includes access to occasional special features and exclusive college livechats
– Instant access to Steel City Showdown final between Pitt & Eastern Michigan
– More great benefits, including apparel discounts, to be announced soon!
Cost: $300 Just $225 until Sunday, November 9th
That’s less than $10 a person — an incredible value!
2015 College Subscription (Individual)
– Unlimited college video access for a single user
– Instant access to Steel City Showdown final between Pitt & Eastern Michigan
– Includes access to occasional special features and exclusive college livechats
Cost: $60 Just $49 until Sunday, November 9th
Buy the College Individual Subscription
2014 College Subscription (Parent/Relative)
– Good for single user access to a single team’s games
– Must be verified as parent or relative by Ultiworld
Some teams will be filmed more than others; some may not be filmed at all. If you are unsure about the likelihood of Ultiworld filming a specific team, feel free to email us at [email protected] and ask for more information.
Cost: $30 Just $25 until Sunday, November 9th
Buy the College Parent/Relative Subscription
Tournament Packages will still be available for purchase for some (but not all) tournaments, but will cost ~$30 for a single user.
Planned Tournaments (likely to grow, and subject to change):
Steel City Showdown (M)
Missouri Loves Company (M, W)
Classic City Classic (M)
Florida Warm Up (M)
Queen City Tune Up (M, W)
Stanford Invite (M, W)
Easterns (M, W)
Select Regionals – TBD
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Thank you for your continued support!
Charlie Eisenhood
Editor-in-Chief
Ultiworld.com
