The league’s weekly showcase game packs excitement…
March 17, 2026 by Alex Rubin in News
The UFA is returning a fan favorite this season: Friday Night Frisbee. Fans can watch every game on watchufa.tv, but one game1 during each week of the regular season will be broadcast for free on the UFA’s YouTube channel. This year, fans can count on a marquee game every week without paying for a subscription. Evan “the voice of ultimate” Lepler will once again be the lead play-by-play broadcaster for every FNF game. Here’s the schedule rundown with a reason I’m excited for each game:
Week One: Carolina at San Diego
Reason to Watch: Well, opening week is always exciting. For these two teams in particular, this game will set the standard for their season. The South Division has four teams good enough for their three playoff spots (Atlanta and Austin alongside these two), so any game between them carries some extra weight.
Week Two: Oregon at Salt Lake
Reason to Watch: Oregon is the ultimate “League Pass team”.2 They won’t win many games but they’re as exciting as any team in the Association. If college players are on the field this early, tune in for some wild Ben Thoennes hucks. Otherwise, see which Salt Lake rookies are tearing it up; the Shred always seem to unearth previously unheard of talent, and an early season game against a weak opponent is a great place to test the waters.
Week Three: DC at New York
Reason to Watch: This is the defining rivalry of the modern UFA. While DC appears to be taking a bit of a step back following the successive departures of Jonny Malks and Thomas Edmonds (alongside Rowan McDonnell, whose status is still undecided for this season), games between rivals are always good. Christian Boxley and Aidan Downey are the new kingpins for the Breeze offense, and this early-season challenge will be a good measuring stick for a team that still has enough potential to return to Championship Weekend. This will also be the big screen debut for New York’s new signings. They’ve already announced Alex Atkins, and there are more signings to come.
Week Four: Colorado at DC
Reason to Watch: Interdivisional games, especially first-time matchups, are always a fun watch. Each division tends to develop its own style as teams get used to playing each other over and over again (and other factors like weather get involved too). So interdivisional games often feature a contrast of styles, and it is a real treat to see teams cross-match different schemes that just do not occur in standard divisional play. Without years of scouting work already done, we could see novel strategic designs or at least fun wrinkles with the new matchup.
Week Five: Atlanta at Carolina
Reason to Watch: Atlanta and Carolina are participating in a fascinating schedule quirk this season which sees them play three straight games against each other. This one is the middle game, and anyone who loves digging into the Xs and Os will be able to really dissect each coaching staff’s adjustments week over week.
Week Six: Chicago at Indianapolis
Reason to Watch: This will be the first free look at the new-look AlleyCats. For Xavier Payne and William Wettengel, this is a revenge game against their former Union teammates. Indianapolis is pushing for a new competitive ceiling, while Chicago is trying to hold on to their place atop the division despite seeing a starting lineup’s worth of talent leave the team this offseason (though notably not Pawel Janas, who will return to Chicago this year). With two teams who deeply care about the UFA looking to establish their divisional pecking order, this will be a great battle.
Week Seven: New York at Boston
Reason to Watch: This might be a game between the two best teams in the league. It is almost certainly a playoff preview. Also, it’s Boston against New York. Jeff Babbitt against the team who let him leave in free agency. What more could a sports fan ask for?
Week Eight: Minnesota at Oakland
Reason to Watch: Another new interdivisional matchup takes the spotlight and this should be a great one. Minnesota brings a stellar defense and a bit of Championship Weekend know-how. Oakland brings a beautiful offense and is pushing to break through in the playoffs after years of improvement. The contrasts here make the game super interesting. This is the kind of game that players get excited to play, and it should be a real joy to watch.
Week Nine: Salt Lake at Madison and Salt Lake at Minnesota
Reason to Watch: The rare double free stream follows the Salt Lake Shred on their first Central Division roadtrip. Their game against Minnesota is a rematch of their instant-classic 2023 semifinal. If this game produces half as much drama as that one, anyone who gets to watch will be a winner. And any road trip is hard, but Breese Stevens Field and Sea Foam Stadium are two of the very best home field advantages in the Association. Even if Salt Lake is the better team on paper (and against Minnesota, I’d call it a push), home field advantage for these Central teams is a genuine advantage that could push these contests out of Salt Lake’s favor.
Week Ten: Oakland at Colorado
Reason to Watch: This late in the season, a matchup like this has the potential to impact the playoff race. Like DC, Colorado will spend the early part of the season figuring out how to replace important departed players (in this case Alex Atkins and Tobias Brooks), but there is plenty of talent on this squad and playing at elevation is hard for any opponent. This one should be a close, meaningful game.
Week Eleven: Chicago at Minnesota
Reason to Watch: While this season’s rosters are not shaping up to be as evenly matched as the past few years, this matchup somehow always produces a good game. That’s the sign of a good rivalry, and the Chicago players will want to prove that they don’t need travel players to be able to be competitive against one of the best teams in the league, and a team that’s had their number in the post season each of the last three seasons.
Week Twelve: New York at Chicago
Reason to Watch: Yet another first-time matchup. This game could have significant playoff implications for both teams, and both will be pushing for a tough win. Chicago might be at a talent deficit here, but with home field advantage they have everything they need for a competitive game.
Week Thirteen: Oakland at Salt Lake
Reason to Watch: This could end up being a playoff play-in game, or at least very meaningful for seeding purposes, the way things are looking in the West. With two franchises potentially fighting to extend their season, both teams will empty their strategic notebooks to find any advantage they can. Few things are as exciting as elimination (or at least high-stakes) ultimate between two teams who care a lot about success in the UFA. This will be these teams’ third meeting of the season, and it could end up being a preview for a fourth meeting in an even higher-stakes playoff game a few weeks later.
Or two in the case of Week Nine for some reason ↩
This term originated among NBA fans. NBA League Pass is a streaming service that shows every game. Teams that are not as strong tend to only be shown on League Pass rather than national TV broadcasts, so the bad teams that are still really fun to watch are known as “League Pass teams” ↩
