USA Ultimate is a not-for-profit organization that serves as the governing body of the sport of ultimate (also known as ultimate Frisbee ) in the United States .
56-607: It was founded in 1979 as the Ultimate Players Association , but rebranded itself as USA Ultimate on May 25, 2010. The United States Olympic Committee , empowered to govern amateur sport in the USA per the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act of 1978, officially recognized USA Ultimate as a Recognized Sport Organization on June 10, 2014. Its mission is "to advance the sport of Ultimate in
112-427: A brand has negative connotations associated with it, it can only lead to decreased profitability and possibly complete corporate failure. Companies differentiate themselves from competitors by incorporating practices from changing their logo to going green. Differentiation from competitors is important in order to attract more customers and an effective way to draw in more desirable employees. The need to differentiate
168-494: A brand's logo , name, legal names, image, marketing strategy, and advertising themes. Such changes typically aim to reposition the brand/company, occasionally to distance itself from negative connotations of the previous branding, or to move the brand upmarket ; they may also communicate a new message a new board of directors wishes to communicate. Rebranding can be applied to new products, mature products, or even products still in development . The process can occur through
224-431: A change in marketing strategy or in various other situations such as Chapter 11 corporate restructuring, union busting , or bankruptcy . Rebranding can also refer to a change in a company or corporate brand that may own several sub-brands for products or companies. Rebranding became something of a fad at the turn of the millennium, with some companies rebranding several times. The rebranding of Philip Morris to Altria
280-577: A company's business has changed, for example its strategic direction and industry focus, or its brand no longer fits its (new) customer base. For example, a company might rebrand so that its name works in new market it enters, for reasons of culture or language, such as to make it easier to pronounce. Rebranding is also a way to refresh an image to ensure its appeal to contemporary customers and stakeholders. What once looked fresh and relevant may no longer do so years later. As for product offerings, when they are marketed separately to several target markets this
336-608: A dryland and ice hockey training facility that is part of the Super Rink. Currently the space is leased to partner organization who trains youth both on and off the ice surface. Each July, the National Sports Center plays host to USA Cup , the largest soccer tournament in the Western Hemisphere with over 1,100 teams and participants from 19 countries. The mission of the National Sports Center
392-552: A large grandstand along the west sideline of the field and smaller grandstands on the opposite sideline and on either end. The United States women's national soccer team has played four home matches at the NSC, including international matches against Canada , Australia , Norway and Sweden . Mia Hamm scored her 150th international goal at the NSC in a 3–0 victory over Australia in 2004. The NSC has also hosted men's U.S. national team U-17 and U-20 matches. The largest crowd in NSC history
448-530: A larger product line offering than what their names solely imply. It is also used to cater to different demographics who may be interested in different products of the same industry. In a 2018 marketing stunt , pancake restaurant chain IHOP announced a rebranding to "IHOb" to promote a line of hamburgers, but did not follow through with the rebranding. Companies can also choose to rebrand to remain relevant to its (new) customers and stakeholders. This could occur when
504-631: A primarily online retail business model. Rebranding may also occur unintentionally from emergent situations such as “ Chapter 11 corporate restructuring,” or “bankruptcy.” Chapter 11 is rehabilitation or reorganization used primarily by business debtors. It’s more commonly known as corporate bankruptcy, which is a form of corporate financial reorganization that allows companies to function while they pay off their debt. Companies such as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, Washington Mutual and General Motors have all filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. On July 1, 2009 General Motors filed for bankruptcy, which
560-406: A professionally designed brand image, "rebranding becomes a critical step for a company to be considered seriously when expanding to more aggressive markets and facing competitors with more established brand images". The ubiquitous nature of a company/product brand across all customer touchpoints makes rebranding a heavy undertaking for companies. According to the iceberg model, 80% of the impact
616-468: A separate summer Masters Division in 2012. The Mixed Division was added in 1998. Club national championship tournaments were held in Sarasota, FL from 2000 through 2012, and in 2013 USA Ultimate began moving around the location, starting with Frisco, TX for 3 years and then Rockford, IL in 2016. The event returned to Sarasota, FL in 2017, followed by San Diego, CA in 2018 and 2019. The Triple Crown Tour
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#1732779580098672-475: A soccer stadium, over 50 full-sized soccer fields, a golf course, a meeting and convention facility, and an eight-sheet ice rink, the Super Rink . The National Sports Center has hosted numerous National and World Championship events in soccer, hockey, figure skating, short track speedskating, broomball, rugby, ultimate frisbee and lacrosse. The National Sports Center opened in 1990 after 1987 legislature created
728-598: A third new Beach Western Championship event in April in Santa Monica, CA. Four geographic regions have been established for the East Coast, Great Lakes, Gulf Coast, and West, each with an assigned resident Regional Director volunteer staff position. However, regional championships have not yet been presented as viable, until the division grows further in size and popularity. Outreach efforts were established to promote
784-491: Is a huge international firm; however, the AIG Retirement and AIG Financial subsidiaries were left with negative connotations due to the bailout. As a result, AIG Financial Advisors and AIG Retirement respectively rebranded into Sagepoint Financial and VALIC (Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company) to shed the negative image associated with AIG. Brands often rebrand in reaction to losing market share. In these cases,
840-455: Is also available for $ 999. Membership covers participation at sanctioned and championship events; accident and liability insurance in those events; attendance at USA Ultimate education clinics; certification options at various levels of coaching, tournament directing and officiating (called "observing"); voting in board elections; seeking election to the board of directors; discounts with several partner sponsors; scholarship opportunities; access to
896-607: Is called market segmentation . When part of a market segmentation strategy involves offering significantly different products in each market, this is called product differentiation . This market segmentation/product differentiation process can be thought of as a form of rebranding. What distinguishes it from other forms of rebranding is that the process does not entail the elimination of the original brand image. Rebranding in this manner allows one set of engineering and QA to be used to create multiple products with minimal modifications and additional expense. Another form of product rebranding
952-696: Is especially prevalent in saturated markets such as the financial services industry. Organisations may rebrand intentionally to shed negative images of the past. Research suggests that "concern over external perceptions of the organisation and its activities" can function as a major driver in rebranding exercises. In a corporate context, managers can utilize rebranding as an effective marketing strategy to hide malpractices and avoid or shed negative connotations and decreased profitability. Corporations such as Philip Morris USA , Blackwater and AIG rebranded in order to shed negative images. Philip Morris USA rebranded its name and logo to Altria on January 27, 2003 due to
1008-412: Is hidden. The level of impact of changing a brand depends on the degree to which the brand is changed. There are several elements of a brand that can be changed in a rebranding these include the name, the logo, the legal name, and the corporate identity (including visual identity and verbal identity ). Changes made only to the company logo have the lowest impact (called a logo-swap), and changes made to
1064-559: Is low. “The powerful first impression on new clients made possible by professional brand design often outweighs an outdated or poorly-designed image’s weak brand recognition to existing clients”. A change of image in a large corporation can have costly repercussions (updating signage in multiple locations, large quantities of existing collateral, communicating with a large number of employees, etc.), while small businesses can enjoy more mobility and implement change more quickly. While small businesses can experience growth without necessarily having
1120-576: Is run by a thirteen-person Board of Directors , seven of which are elected by the membership, including three by the elite athlete player segment, five of which are appointed by existing board members, including three which must be independent in connections to the organization, and an ex-officio position for the Chief Executive Officer who is hired by the board and is also head of the staff. Officers are elected by board members on an annual basis. Each appointed and elected director's term
1176-596: Is subdivided into Women's and Men's (open to any gender and previously called "Open" despite the vast majority of participants identifying as men) gender divisions, which have their regular season in the winter and spring. Over 300 Open teams and 200 Women's teams took part in the College Championship Series in 2005. The College Open division was first held in 1984 in Somerville, MA and was won by Stanford University . The College Women's Division
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#17327795800981232-594: Is the Championship Series; it sanctions certain tournaments throughout the year in five divisions (Club, College, Youth, Masters, Beach) and runs the local, regional and/or national championship tournaments at the end of the respective seasons. These events are governed by the 11th Edition Rules. While the national champion is crowned in various divisions of the USA Ultimate Championships, four Canadian teams have won championships over
1288-626: Is the sale of a product manufactured by another company under a new name: an original design manufacturer is a company that manufactures a product, often in a location with lower operating costs, which is eventually branded by another firm for sale. Following a merger or acquisition, companies usually rebrand newly-acquired products to keep them consistent with an existing product line, such as Symantec placing acquired security and utility software under its Norton brand (itself an offshoot of flagship product Norton Antivirus ). This can also happen in reverse if an acquired brand has wider recognition in
1344-443: Is three years, rotated such that four seats come up for election each calendar year. The Board is responsible for overseeing the Chief Executive Officer, budgeting , strategic planning, setting organizational policies and serving on various working groups that include Equity & Diversity, Audit & Ethics, Nominating, Investment, Marketing, Strategic Planning, et al. Nearly 62,000 people joined as members of USA Ultimate in 2019,
1400-556: Is two-fold: 1) to create out-of-state economic impact for Minnesota through amateur sports events, and 2) to create sports and fitness opportunities for Minnesota residents. The NSC is operated by the National Sports Center Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Even though the facility is a State of Minnesota facility, and operations are overseen by the MASC, the NSC receives no operating subsidy from
1456-811: The NSC Minnesota Stars (now Minnesota United FC ) were founded to replace the Minnesota Thunder in the North American Soccer League , and the Stars played their home games at the stadium. The Stars were the champions of the inaugural season of the re-instituted North American Soccer League. Minnesota United FC used the stadium as their home ground until they moved to TCF Bank Stadium after joining Major League Soccer in 2017. The NSC has hosted KTIS-FM's Joyful Noise Family Fest every year of its existence until 2022 when
1512-485: The 21st century may find it necessary to relook their brand in terms of its relevance to consumers and the changing marketplace. Successful rebranding projects can yield a brand better off than before. Marketing develops the awareness and associations in the memory of customers so they know (and are reminded) of brands to serve their needs. Once in a lead position, it is marketing, consistent product or service quality, sensible pricing and effective distribution that will keep
1568-570: The Callahan Award also honors sportsmanship and leadership. Each Open and Women's team can nominate a single player for the award. Beginning in 2000, players could also be nominated for the Callahan by USA Ultimate college regional coordinators. The winners are selected through online balloting by other college ultimate players. The award is named after Henry Callahan , one of the early pioneers and ambassadors of ultimate. The Callahan Award
1624-577: The International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE), as well as an officially recognized International Federation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Callahan Award is an annual award given by The Callahan Award committee, with assistance from USA Ultimate, to the best male and female college ultimate players. In addition to honoring extraordinary physical talent and skills,
1680-579: The Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission (MASC) and appropriated $ 14.7 million for the construction of the NSC. The facility has over 3.8 million visitors annually, making it the most-visited sports facility in the state of Minnesota. The Herb Brooks Foundation, the foundation created by the hockey coach's family, has partnered with the National Sports Center to develop the Herb Brooks Training Center,
1736-730: The USA Ultimate mobile app to follow events, access the rules, event guides for national championships, and report scores for sanctioned events; access to USA Ultimate electronic newsletters and updates; and discounted USA Ultimate merchandise. USA Ultimate is a member of the World Flying Disc Federation , the international governing body for flying disc sports. WFDF is a member of the General Association for International Sport Federations (GAISF), The International World Games Association (IWGA), and
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1792-491: The United States by enhancing and promoting Character, Community, and Competition." Its vision is that "Ultimate is widely known, played, and respected in the United States as a sport that inspires athletic excellence and integrity among participants and fans." In addition to organizing and supporting national teams to represent the nation in international and world championship competitions, a major focus of USA Ultimate
1848-454: The actual marketing strategy (change the corporate reputation), it aims at enhancing, regaining, transferring, and/or recreating the corporate brand equity . According to Sinclair (1999:13), business the world over acknowledges the value of brands. “Brands, it seems, alongside ownership of copyright and trademarks, computer software and specialist know-how, are now at the heart of the intangible value investors place on companies.” Companies in
1904-428: The award meets the following criteria: Source: Source: Rebranding Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers , investors , competitors , and other stakeholders . Often, this involves radical changes to
1960-624: The brand ahead of the pack and provide value to its owners (Sinclair, 1999:15). Corporations often rebrand in order to respond to external and/or internal issues. Firms commonly have rebranding cycles in order to stay current with the times or set themselves ahead of the competition. Companies also utilize rebranding as an effective marketing tool to hide malpractices of the past, thereby shedding negative connotations that could potentially affect profitability. Corporations such as Citigroup , AOL , American Express , and Goldman Sachs all utilize third-party vendors that specialize in brand strategy and
2016-538: The brands have become less meaningful to target audiences and, therefore, lost share to competitors. In some cases, companies try to build on any perceived equity they believe still exists in their brand. Radio Shack , for example, rebranded itself as "the Shack" in 2008 but the rebranding never realized into an increase of market share in the retail industry. By 2017, Radio Shack had significantly reduced its physical retail presence, closing over 1,000 stores and shifted to
2072-415: The development of corporate identity. Companies invest valuable resources into rebranding and third-party vendors because it is a way to protect them from being blackballed by customers in a very competitive market. Dr. Roger Sinclair, a leading expert on brand valuation and brand equity practice worldwide stated, “A brand is a resource acquired by an enterprise that generates future economic benefits.” Once
2128-413: The largest membership year so far. In 2024, memberships for a single calendar year cost $ 69 per calendar year for adult and college players, $ 40 per year for Youth players under 20 years old who have not yet graduated from high school, $ 25 for non-players (coaches, chaperones, etc), and $ 18 for local Affiliate recreational participants. Multiyear discounts are available for most levels. A lifetime membership
2184-489: The market than that of the purchaser, such as Chemical Bank taking on the Chase branding after its merger with the company. Small businesses face different challenges from large corporations and must adapt their rebranding strategy accordingly. Rather than implementing change gradually, small businesses are sometimes better served by rebranding their image in a short timeframe – especially when existing brand notoriety
2240-683: The mid to late summer. The Beach division, played on a smaller sand-covered surface with fewer players per side than the grass format, was officially added by USA Ultimate in May 2015 with the introduction of a national championship tournament in Virginia Beach, VA. The event returned in 2016, and the division added the US Beach Open event in Santa Monica, CA, in November 2016. In 2017, the division will return both of those events as well as
2296-501: The name, legal name, and other identity elements will touch every part of the company and can result in high costs and impact on large complex organizations. Rebranding affects not only marketing material but also digital channels, URLs, signage, clothing, and correspondence. National Sports Center The National Sports Center (NSC) is a multi-sport complex located in Blaine, Minnesota . Its 600-acre (240 ha) site includes
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2352-569: The national office to existing organizations that are dedicated to advancing the sport in a specific metro area. The State-Based Organization initiative funds and supports the establishment of new state-focused governing bodies to assume the role of the national office with a dedicated focus on a single state or perhaps a few contiguous states, where geography and population dynamics warrant the combination. New Start Program Grants are given out quarterly to local ultimate organizers who apply for materials to start brand new ultimate programs. USA Ultimate
2408-532: The negative connotations associated with tobacco products that could have had potential to affect the profitability of other Philip Morris brands such as Kraft Foods . In 2008, AIG's image became damaged due to its need for a Federal bailout during the financial crisis . AIG was bailed out because the United States Treasury stated that AIG was too big to fail due to its size and complex relationships with financial counterparties. AIG itself
2464-636: The sand format and point out to organizers that existing sand volleyball courts can be used for modified formats in places that are not coastal or accessible to large public areas of natural flat sand, such as coasts and beaches. Aside from the championship series, several community development programs exist to advance the sport at local and grassroots levels. Event Sanctioning provides insurance, marketing, exposure, connections to rankings for some competition divisions and discounts on materials for tournaments, leagues and training events (like practices, scrimmages, camps, clinics, etc.). The Affiliate program connects
2520-557: The single gender or the mixed division Masters division, men must be 33 years old and women must be 30 years old. To compete in the Grandmasters division, men must be 40 years old and women must be 37 years old. To compete in the Great Grandmasters division, men must be 50 years old and women must be 45 years or older. Regional championships are played in the early to mid summer with the national championship occurring in
2576-414: The sport for the next forty years. The Club division is currently the only competition division that is not restricted by age (like Youth and Masters) nor school enrollment (like High School and College), but is rather subdivided only by gender into Men's (open to any gender and previously called "Open"), Women's, and Mixed (with prescribed gender ratios) gender divisions, which have their regular seasons in
2632-532: The state, and it is a self-supporting operation. The state legislature approved $ 14.7 million in funding for the sports complex in 1987. Following the successful U.S. bid for the 1994 FIFA World Cup , civic boosters in the Twin Cities proposed staging matches at the Blaine sports complex with a temporary arrangement to seat 45,000 spectators, but were not named in the final list of venues. The NSC Stadium has
2688-640: The summer and their post-season championship series in the fall. The first national championship took place in 1979 in State College, Pennsylvania . The Women's division was added in 1981. The age-based Masters Open (now Men's) and Women's divisions were added to the Club division in 1991; the Masters Women's division was discontinued in 1997, and the Masters Men's division joined Grandmasters in
2744-416: The years in different divisions- Vancouver's Furious George (Club Open), University of British Columbia (College Women's), Stick Dog (Masters Women's), and Winnipeg's MOFO (Youth Club Mixed). In 2008, the 40th Anniversary of the birth of ultimate, USA Ultimate adopted a Five Year Strategic Plan with input from ultimate players throughout the United States, in hopes of facilitating the growth and evolution of
2800-658: Was added in 1987. In fall 2017, USAU added mixed regional tournaments with 5 regions. In 2018, another region was added for a total of 6 regional championship events. Originally, the National Youth championship was loosely a high school-based competition, with guidelines determining how many players must be from one high school. In the early 21st century, USA Ultimate moved more towards a complete high school nationals, which launched in 1998 in Maplewood, NJ . In 2005, two significant changes were made: High School Nationals
2856-472: Was done to help the company shed its negative image. Other rebrandings, such as the British Post Office 's attempt to rebrand itself as Consignia, have proved such a failure that millions more had to be spent going back to square one. In a study of 165 cases of rebranding, Muzellec and Lambkin (2006) found that, whether a rebranding follows from corporate strategy (e.g., M&A) or constitutes
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#17327795800982912-559: Was established in 2013. The three achievements are: winning the US Open tournament, winning the Pro Flight Finale and winning the national championship. Previously, finishing the regular season with a #1 season ranking replaced the Pro Flight Finale component. San Francisco's Revolver in the men's division and Seattle's Mixtape in the mixed division won all three achievements in 2013 and 2017, respectively. The College division
2968-526: Was for a 2001 women's soccer match between the United States and Canada, when 15,615 fans watched a 1–0 U.S. victory. The playing field is 118x75 yards. The NSC played host to the now-defunct Minnesota Thunder of the USL First Division . The stadium served as the Thunder's home from 1990 to 2003 and from May 24, 2008, until the end of the 2009 season when the team folded. For the 2010 season
3024-937: Was fulfilled on July 10, 2009. General Motors decided to rebrand its entire structure by investing more in Chevrolet , Buick , GMC , and Cadillac automobiles. Furthermore, it decided to sell Saab Automobile and discontinue the Hummer , Pontiac , and Saturn brands. General Motors rebranded by stating they are reinventing and rebirthing the company as “The New GM” with “Fewer, stronger brands. Fewer, stronger models. Greater efficiencies, better fuel economy, and new technologies” as stated in their reinvention commercial. General Motors ' reinvention commercial also stated that eliminating brands “isn’t about going out of business, but getting down to business.” Companies like Dunkin' Donuts , Joann Fabrics , and Weight Watchers , have removed or abbreviated parts of their company names to suggest
3080-597: Was initially created by Charles Kerr and was first awarded in 1996. The Donovan Award is named after the late Kelly Donovan , who captured the spirit, talent, and commitment to growing the sport that we are looking for in the ideal winners of this award. We are honored for the Donovan Award to help carry on Kelly’s legacy. The Donovan Award will be awarded to one Women's and one Men's player in Division III who are selected by their peers. The ideal candidate for
3136-864: Was split into Easterns and Westerns, split by the Mississippi River , held in May each year, and a Youth Club Championships was created, for club teams assembled from various cities/regions across North America, held in August each year at the National Sports Center . Over 24 states currently hold high school ultimate state championship tournaments that are operated by local USA Ultimate Competition State Youth Coordinator volunteer staff. The Masters division currently consists of Masters Men, Masters Women and Grandmasters Men's divisions. In 2017, USA Ultimate added Masters Mixed, Grandmasters Women, and Great Grandmasters Men's divisions. To compete in
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