Survey Results: Skills for the Sport of Ultimate

:Overall Results:
The average rating for the sport of Ultimate by survey participants was 70.03, placing 3rd on the ESPN list - behind boxing [1st] & ice hockey [2nd]. (Soccer is #10 on the ESPN list.) The top five skills for Ultimate were: Agility, Speed, Hand-Eye Coordination, Endurance, and Analytic Aptitude.

Twice, Ultimate ranked higher than ESPN's top-rated sport in the categories of Agility (besting soccer), and Analytic Aptitude (besting soccer, ice hockey and auto racing). Ultimate was ranked within the top 15 of each skills category, except in: Strength, Power, Nerve, and Durability.

:Comparison of Ultimate to Similarly Ranked Sports:
Survey rankings within each skills category.

Endurance: Ultimate is between water polo and soccer at 7.86.
Strength: Ultimate is between rodeo and track and field distance at 5.34.
Power: Ultimate is between volleyball and basketball at 6.64.
Speed: Ultimate is between speed skating and swimming at 8.41.
Agility: Ultimate is higher than soccer at 8.7.
Flexibility: Ultimate is between high jump and squash at 6.1.
Nerve: Ultimate is between fencing and cycling sprints at 4.87.
Endurance: Ultimate is between soccer and lacrosse at 6.23.
Hand-Eye Coordination: Ultimate is between squash and auto racing at 8.07.
Analytic Aptitude: Ultimate is higher than soccer, ice hockey, and auto racing, at 7.81.

(highest ranking score = 10)

:Survey Results within ESPN Top-15 Grid:
Averaging all submitted responses resulted in Ultimate placing 3rd on the list – behind Boxing (1st) and Ice Hockey (2nd).

An eight-person panel of experts rated ESPN's sports. A total of 334 online survey participants provided ratings for the sport of Ultimate.

:Survey Demographics:
TOTAL PARTICIPANTS = 334  . GENDER: 18% female; 82% male

Nearly three-quarters of participants identified themselves as club or college players.

LOCATION: Most were from United States (72%) & Canada (14%), with additional participation from Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, & United Kingdom.

AGE: Ages ranged from teenagers to over 50, with the majority (~71%) were between the ages of 19 and 28.

As noted in the published text, a bias exists since the survey participants were also involved in the sport.

Full Report: Download & Read the Survey Results.
Background of Survey 

Survey Background: Ultimate as a Sport

In April 2004, ESPN published their measurement and comparison of 60 sports. Sixty sports/activities were reviewed by the ESPN panel in ten categories; Ultimate was not included. To pile on, ESPN named their results output as the "Ultimate Degree of Difficulty Grid."

So, SLUDGE spearheaded a survey project to help answer the what-if question of: where would the sport of Ultimate be ranked?

At the start of our survey project, ESPN began streaming USA Ultimate games in 2013, and then added AUDL games in 2014. Previous attempts by ESPN3 to label the sport of Ultimate has been "games" and "poker." Meanwhile, there are numerous instances that label Ultimate as a sport. To name a few:

The SFIA (formerly SGMA) Report categorizes Ultimate Frisbee as a "team sport."

TIME: But Ultimate players may soon show up on ESPN, where they might finally attain status as genuine athletes...The game calls for "spatial aptitude" ("to 'read' the projected path of the disc") and “quick, accurate decision-making" ("a new play must be improvised every 10 seconds.")

"Ultimate: The Greatest Sport Ever Invented By Man" is the title of Tony Leonardo's excellent book.

Journalist Isaac Saul wrote about Ultimate in his article, "The Greatest Sport in the World Is Not What You're Thinking." [Huffington Post]

Mike Payne, President of USAU Board of Directors, is quoted: "The USOC...relationship...validates ultimate as one of the nation's emerging sports."

And, sometimes, it's just easier to describe Ultimate in the context of other sports.

:Acknowledgments:
Thank you to everyone who participated in this survey. This project could not have been accomplished without the support of the Ultimate community – local and worldwide. Special thanks to Ultiworld. Much appreciated!

Go to: Survey Results

Surveying Ultimate as a Sport

Needed: Your input about Ultimate as a sport.

Background: Ultimate is NOT listed in ESPN's published rankings for 60 sports.

Survey's Purpose: Where does Ultimate rank within ESPN's "Top Sports"?

Complete a survey. 

Results: Survey results & analysis will be published online.

Thanks in advance for participating!

[This survey is a SLUDGE Ultimate project in collaboration with Ultiworld.] Learn more

Ultimate as an ESPN Sport

Back in August 2012, I read a tweet that prompted me to quantify Ultimate as sport.

.@jeffsnader hmmm, I ranked Ultimate in the Top 15 of Sports Difficulty w a total = 60. [RE: sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/spo…]
— Sludge Ultimate (@sludgebrown) August 23, 2012

For all the ways to describe Ultimate (soccer-esque, basketball-ish, tennis-like, quasi-football, with a flying disc), this ESPN "Ultimate Degree of Difficulty Grid" helped me break down the Ultimate sport. Again, Ultimate is *NOT* on the ESPN list.

After that tweet, I thought about how to conduct a similar evaluation of Ultimate as a sport. I have lots of ideas, so my first step was to see if my concept was even feasible. I contacted Ultiworld after meeting him in the fall, and Charlie validated my idea. I also asked UltiCards & they excitedly responded with a blog post about it.

ESPN's approach was they identified 10 categories, or skills, that go into athleticism, and then asked their 8 panelists to assign a number from 1 to 10 to the demands each sport makes of each of those 10 skills. The Top-10 ESPN Sports are: (1) Boxing, (2) Ice Hockey, (3) Football, (4) Basketball, (5) Wrestling, (6) Martial Arts, (7) Tennis, (8) Gymnastics, (9) Baseball/Softball, (10) Soccer.

I then developed a survey to capture the 10 areas for sport evaluation, plus some demographic data. The survey launched with the help of a lovely coder who allowed many 'just-1-more-edit' updates.

Finally in March 2013, I surveyed a range of Subject Matter Experts (SME) within the Ultimate field (i.e., trainers, teams, players, pro leagues, instructors, media, etc.) asking their objective opinion. Immediately after asking the SMEs, you may have noticed some comments [Skyd, Ultimate Rob, ultimateproblems] about this very query -- Where would/should Ultimate rank in the ESPN Sports list?

Since then, interestingly, USA Ultimate announced their deal with ESPN. Now that the SMEs have had their say, the survey will soon be is open for YOU to weigh in.

Look for the survey to be opened very soon now. Survey results about Ultimate is expected to be shared here & on Ultiworld in the near future.


Giving credit due where credit is deserved...thanks again to Jeff Snader for influencing this effort.