AUDL Growth Plan

The American Ultimate Disc League plans to announce another new franchise for the league. Already, the AUDL has added Nashville, Ottawa, Pittsburgh and teams in Texas. The AUDL Commissioner revealed the league's expansion plan of adding up to 19 more teams to its existing 17 teams for a total of 36 AUDL teams by 2018.

Screengrab [via]

For a sports league that began in 2012, this is an ambitious and accelerated growth plan. It's possible that the AUDL is seeking to add more teams in order to reduce travel costs and player time. The plan may resemble USAU's regional structure where nearby teams from a specific section of the map compete, and then the "regional" champions would meet in a championship event. With 30-something teams, this would be a much reduced (and maybe more manageable) version than the Triple Crown Tour.

Adding 19 more teams calculates to a ~112% – averaging ~5 teams every season (2015 thru 2018). A thirty-six (36) team league would be more than the current totals of any of the major sports leagues (National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and Major League Soccer).

In 2014: 
AUDL = 17 teams
MLS = 19 teams
MLB = 30 teams
NBA = 30 teams
NHL = 30 teams
NFL = 32 teams

In 2018: AUDL = 36 teams