PUL Sponsor-A-Player Fundraiser Off To Hot Start

Western Ultimate League sales much slower.

2020 Premier Ultimate League sponsor-a-player jerseys.

Our 2020 coverage of the Premier Ultimate League and Western Ultimate League is sponsored by Five Ultimate. Find out how you can get $50 full subs this month at FiveUltimate.com, a proud support of womxn in ultimate.

Running a semi-professional ultimate league is not cheap. Both the Premier Ultimate League and Western Ultimate League are currently tackling this challenge with exciting fundraisers to allow fans to support their favorite athletes. After a wildly successful first year, the PUL is running their Sponsor-A-Player Program again for the 2020 season, and the new league on the scene — the WUL — are hoping to follow suit with their Superfan Program.

PUL Sponsor-A-Player Program

Last year, the bar was raised when it came to fundraisers when the PUL Sponsor-A-Player program raised a whopping $120,000. This year’s program is similar: for $150, you can sponsor a player and receive a special jersey with that player’s name on it in return. Each player in the league can be sponsored up to four times. With more teams and more players, the potential fundraising total has gone way up, and based on the response in less than 24 hours, it looks like they should easily reach their goal.

Maddy Frey

This early success has unlocked a “bonus round,” where fans will be able to sponsor a coach as well. The rules for the brief (24 hours) bonus round are the same as the regular fundraiser — only four sponsorships per coach are available — and will start once the player sponsorships completely sell out.

PUL Commissioner Bonesaw Kepner believes the success of the fundraiser is multifaceted. First, fans want to support the league and understand that professional teams can cost a lot of money. But more importantly, this fundraiser creates the opportunity for fans to connect personally with those they are supporting and allows them to forge a special bond with their favorite players. He also believes it allows ultimate players to celebrate having more professionals in our sport.

WUL Superfan Program

The Superfan Program is also underway for the WUL to connect fans of the league with its teams. By purchasing a $175 Superfan pack, you receive a customizable jersey, a sticker pack that includes a logo sticker for all seven teams, and an all-access pass to any WUL game played this season.

The Superfan jersey is an exclusive design, and the all-access pass could be a really great deal if you live nearby to where games are being played.

Randi Spencer, the WUL marketing lead, spoke of the impact the money raised could have. “A big thing we want to push is that the profits are going back to the teams, split evenly between all seven and a very small percentage going towards the league as a whole,” she said. “The more we sell, the better equipped the teams will be for the season.”

Teams can decide how best to spend their portion of the funds, as they will have many operating costs to pay for, including observers, rentals, insurance, travel, and media.

Having seen the success of the PUL Sponsor-A-Player Program, the WUL wanted to create a fundraiser with a similar blueprint — one that allows people to connect directly with teams and players — but with their own unique spin. “It seemed like the best way to get people excited and wanting to support the league. Our goal is to have a jersey for each player purchased, but we aren’t limiting jerseys to one per player,” said Randi.

Sales for the Superfan packs have been much slower than the explosion of PUL support. As of last night, 45 Superfan packs had been sold:

Western Ultimate League Tweet

The Superfan Program runs until March 9th.

Correction: An earlier version of this article implied that the coach sponsorship ‘bonus round’ had already started.

  1. Kelsey Hayden
    Kelsey Hayden

    Kelsey Hayden is an Ultiworld reporter, primarily covering the Club Women's Division. She is originally from Goulds, Newfoundland, and currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She plays on a women's club team, Salty and a women's masters club team, StellO.

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