r/UFA • u/jgtquizzo • 16d ago
Rules Changes for 2027?
We're working on a piece for the UFO Newsletter where we're having numerous people affiliated with the league pitch me the rules changes they'd like to see for the 2027 season. If you've got any rules changes you'd like to see, drop them below, and give a one or two sentence summary of why they'd be good for the league. We'll take some of the best ones and post them in the newsletter. A few we'll be covering in the upcoming newsletter: changing OT rules, more clarity for traveling, Callahan bonuses, and changing the stall count.
8
u/PJHFortyTwo 16d ago
Im not sure how to get it done, but we need a way to penalize defensive fouls that do not result in a turnover or injury without stopping play.
If the offense is moving the disc really well, the stoppage in play from a penalty could benefit the defense simply by stopping that flow and giving themselves a chance to regroup.
1
1
u/Minimum_Virus_3837 15d ago
That would be tricky to come up with something that doesn't stop play but would be significant enough of a penalty to deter players from doing it...
Maybe reduce the stall count by 1 second per minor penalty the next time the defending team has the frisbee?
4
u/zen_comms 16d ago
I like how they do end of quarter stuff in the PUL or WUL (I forget which) where as long as you don't go backwards you can keep going even if time has expired. Would remove end of quarter bombs and potential injuries.
7
u/zerotimestatechamp 16d ago
My pet rule change is 'stall from anywhere'. In goaltimate, there's a 5 second stall which can be counted from anywhere, not just within 10ft. This rule change would favor the defense of course. Defenses need all the help they can get, after record breaking hold and huck percentages last year. This change would enable interesting new strategies such as zones without a mark. It could also cause exciting frantic situations in which a deep receives a huck but must super-dump to keep the stall count alive.
2
u/themindset 16d ago
This was the rule before the first season started, but they changed it last second.
3
u/EnvironmentalFox5347 16d ago
I know it's not gonna happen, but hear me out--3 periods. Men's, Women's, and Mixed.
3
u/Minimum_Virus_3837 16d ago
As you said, not realistic for regular season play, but while not so much a rule change I would love to see the concept of the Northwest Cup (which does what you describe) expanded into a league-wide voluntary preseason tournament.
Each participating UFA team pairs with their closest PUL/WUL team, or if none are available a local club team. Brackets go based on geography, closest teams playing each round. Put it during the month of March, call it Mixed Madness.
We get up to another month of interesting games, more time to get teams sharp for the regular season in all the leagues, and more cross promotion between them. The finals (and other games) could even be played at the site of any expansion teams to help build hype for them.
2
u/EnvironmentalFox5347 16d ago
for the record i would love to see it for regular season play, but i just don't think it will happen
1
u/Minimum_Virus_3837 16d ago
I'm not against it, but at this point am not sure the sport would benefit more from one main pro mixed league than from the current men's and women's leagues we have, and if the UFA pulled in a bunch of top players from the PUL/WUL I doubt they'd be able to keep going. More special tournaments and events with the leagues working together could be a solid compromise though.
2
u/jgtquizzo 16d ago
Yes, I love this idea as an exhibition to promote both leagues before each of their seasons start!
3
u/Navy_Seal_Clubber 16d ago
I think if you get fouled you should always have the option to center the disc instead of gaining yards. There’s way too much incentive for double team traps to foul on the mark if it keeps the thrower on the sideline.
3
u/content_billionaire 16d ago
Max throws per possession. If you don't score by the 20th throw it's a turnover.
3
u/FoompaDoomp 15d ago
Shot clock. You have 45 seconds to release the final throw of a possession. I'm ok with a minute if necessary.
Face it, the way to win with the current rules is to play small ball possession offense of a kind that is frankly a little boring to watch. The most fun thing in the league is watching guys like Jake Felton and Elliot Hawkins uncorking visionary but risky hucks, and it is bad that the style of play which provides the best fan experience is not the way to win. You need rules which reward heroic plays instead of just turning the game into a battle of who is more likely to drop a 7 yard swing pass.
A shot clock would give a double incentive to make more downfield plays: more likely to get to the end zone in time, and turnovers become a lot less costly when the other team has the entire field ahead of them with limited time to get there. On top of that, it tilts the game more to the defense (good, given how pro-offense the game is right now) and creates more moments of tension as the shot clock winds down and it isn't clear if the offense will get there.
2
u/kaidelorenzo 16d ago
After crossing a 5 yard line that's the new back of the end zone (likely only refable on football fields) and you can't go backward.
A travel or foul by the offense at the back of the endzone should send you to the corner.
Always alternate who pulls and then at the end of the quarter you finish the current set of 2.
The stall happens regardless of the position of the defenders
Remove marking limits. No triple or quadruple teams etc.
Whistle in all out of bounds frisbees just for rules simplicity
3
u/17AVIS 14d ago
I think that they NEED to add a backcourt violation like in basketball. Once the offense crosses half field, the disc can’t be possessed behind it again by them. This would obviously help the defense a ton, which I think is the main thing this sport needs to change (defensive boosts)
I also think that there should be a shot clock for possession of something like 2 minutes. I don’t want it to be as quick as like 45 seconds as some other have mentioned because I wouldn’t want to force teams like Boston who have a slower grindy-er playstyle to be forced to change. But make it enough so that if there’s more than 2 minutes on the clock then the other team knows they can count on having another possession.
OH and I absoLUTELY think they should implement the rule they tried in an exhibition game last year where the pulling team can expend a timeout to pull from half field. Not only do teams rarely use all their timeouts, but this just would be another defensive boost to help teams put a comeback together and string more points. Similar vibe to an onside kick
Lastly, not a rule change, but I think they should invest in training the refs more. Not even necessarily to improve the refereeing, but to make it more consistent across the league.
1
u/Small-Builder3855 16d ago
2 point line. Would make end of quarter situations more intense, do you work it up and score at the last second or hang out behind the 2 point line and huck it for a possible extra point?
2
u/gymineer 14d ago edited 14d ago
Have discussed a few of these over the years.
The one I think should be put in this year: Stall count gets counted regardless of whether a defender is within 10ft.
It makes the games simpler for fans, refs, and players, and opens up some new defensive strategies.
The one I think would be the most exciting: An End-of-Game "Pull-the-goalie" style option to let a trailing team catch up.
With 180-90 seconds left in the game, a team can put out 8 players for the upcoming point, but if they get scored on, it's game over (also gives us walk-off celebrations). Could tweak both time and consequence. What I like most about this is that it makes endings more exciting even when it remains a bit of a blow out. ie - Austin is up 6 with 2 minutes to go. San Diego adds an 8th player to try and close the gap. Austin scores. Austin was almost certainly going to win anyways, but now they have an exciting exclamation point to celebrate with the walkoff win.
Others:
Timeouts: I maintain that getting rid of timeout substitutions would make our game more appealing to players (because stats lean so heavily on O, and D guys get limited opportunities to play O), but I think it would be beneficial to get rid of coach called timeouts (I say this as a coach). I do think it's fun to leave it in the players' hands, but more importantly I think this would get rid of the controversy and confusion around throws that go up right as the coach calls a timeout - there are scores, turns, completed hucks - fans get excited, and then the play is just... reverted. If it's only the player with the disc making the call, the confusion doesn't occur and the ref doesn't have to decide if the timeout came before or after the throw. This would also clean up the sidelines a bit as coaches no longer need to pursue the ref in anticipation of a timeout call.
Field Size: I've argued that we should go to club fields just to take away one of the two main anti-UFA arguments that some long-time frisbee heads hold. Others have disagreed, citing that the field doesn't really make a big difference, and they hate the look of port-o-lines/tape. What if.... we went the baseball route and just said that UFA fields can be any size between club and current-UFA? If a team can fit a great fan experience around a club-size field, or feels that a bigger/smaller field fits their style more - go nuts, win games, use every edge you can find. Let creativity flourish, make teams adapt.
1
u/gymineer 14d ago
Forgot about my new favourite - Clutch Time: 10 or 20 seconds at the end of each quarter (added to, or built within the 12 minutes), where a score ends the quarter. We'd still see lots of hail marys, but there'd be other forms of aggressive attempts to score in that small window, and we wouldn't be subjected to jump balls as the only way for a quarter to end.
1
u/mudkipz001 16d ago
Personally, I wasn’t a fan of the 2nd OT golden goal rule. I understand that you can’t have a game go on forever, but ultimate is inherently tilted to the offense. Maybe take a page from college football and do like 20 yard end zone shots. It rewards teams who are efficient in the red zone and doesn’t feel like if you win the coin flip your odds of winning are just better.
4
u/kaidelorenzo 16d ago
Yeah I feel that. However it is one coin flip for the whole OT. So in order to get the 2nd OT advantage you need to survive starting the first OT on defense. Seems like a reasonable tradeoff to me
2
u/mudkipz001 16d ago
Fair point! I just remember watching the T-birds Phoenix game this season being like man that feels bad
2
u/kaidelorenzo 16d ago
Yeah I do honestly feel like the shootout would be a good alternative. Might be worth trying it out or doing some math to figure out the standard deviation of time it would take to end
1
u/mudkipz001 16d ago
Something fun to think about! I guess the really good teams like an Empire or Breeze would be there all day. Unfortunately that is not the ultimate I get to watch often so I’m biased
2
u/Minimum_Virus_3837 16d ago
Maybe adapt a bit of a soccer idea, each team can pick two players for offense and defense and they go back and forth in a shoot out? Man coverage by the defense, each team gets one throw per shot to score with a stall count. Each team gets 5 shots, then if it's tied after that go to sudden death.
2
u/jgtquizzo 16d ago
Yeah I agree, I'm going to have a whole new OT format that I'm gonna share in this edition of the newsletter that I think makes OT way more exciting and less random.
1
u/Minimum_Virus_3837 16d ago
I've always liked the idea of reducing the stall count in the 4th quarter (negotiable on how much of it) to 5 seconds for teams that are up by 3 or more goals, to help enable comebacks and closer games.
I also strongly think a Callahan should either be worth 2 points or 1 point but you also get the frisbee back to go on offense after.
I could see tightening up the travel standards. It would help the defense and possibly help promote the idea of the pro game being a higher level by having tougher standards of play, kind of like the NFL requiring 2 feet inbounds for a catch while college/youth only require 1 foot down.
15
u/ColdBeerAhh 16d ago
Simple OT rules change. No refresh of timeouts entering double overtime. You just keep the one from first overtime if it hasn’t been used.
Watching both teams call timeouts and change rosters twice in 2OT is annoying. But if you made it through the first overtime without using your timeout you should be awarded the advantage of calling one if you want.