The Ultiworld Editor-in-Chief shares his thoughts on the state of the industry.
December 16, 2025 by Charlie Eisenhood in Analysis
Outside of my work at Ultiworld, I have found myself increasingly drawn to the world of finance and investing. Perhaps that shouldn’t be much of a surprise — I studied economics in college, have been running businesses of some type since I was in middle school, and have always enjoyed reporting on business topics, even back in college.
One of the features of the finance universe is annual investor or shareholder letters, sharing thoughts on the state of the markets, the global geopolitical landscape, and other matters pertinent to the industry. I thought it might be helpful for both myself (writing helps you think) and readers if I wrote down my thoughts on the disc sports industry as it stands at the end of 2025. I will review my thoughts and predictions from last year and then give some new analysis as we head into 2026. Please feel free to email me ([email protected]) or discuss in the Discord.
Assessing My 2024 Year in Review
The broad themes of my assessment a year ago centered around 2025 being a year of transition for disc sports, as both USA Ultimate and the Professional Disc Golf Association brought in new CEOs and sought to reestablish a growth vision after the distortions — both negative and positive — of the COVID-19 pandemic receded.
I think that was generally true, though I think it took this entire year for the organizations to determine a path that they will start to walk in 2026. Ultimate is still trying to figure out how to rekindle youth participation, and disc golf spent the year washing out more COVID-era players who aren’t staying involved.
Reflections on the State of Disc Sports (2025) is only available to Ultiworld Subscribers
Already have a subscription? Log in
Whether you visit Ultiworld for our reporting, our podcasts, or our video coverage, you can help us continue to provide high quality content with a subscription. By becoming a subscriber, not only do you receive benefits like exclusive articles and full article RSS feeds, you also help fund all of Ultiworld's coverage in general. We appreciate your support!
