Colorado Springs, Colo. (March 25, 2019)—USA Ultimate announced today a partnership with VC Ultimate to create a line of apparel and gear in support of its Live Ultimate brand.
USA Ultimate launched Live Ultimate in 2017 via a promotional video on ESPN2. The spot underscores the values that make ultimate an ideal sport – an equal balance of character, community and competition – and that ultimate isn’t just a game, but a lifestyle.
A year later, USA Ultimate released a second spot under the Live Ultimate brand, Grit & Grace, which also aired on ESPN2.
Pull Together, a third commercial featuring many of the sport’s iconic pioneers and players, was published on social media in February and will make its official debut on ESPNU during the 2019 USA Ultimate College Championships. It quickly became USA Ultimate’s most popular and engaging piece of social media content to date, collecting more than a million views and reaching 2.3 million unique people.
“VC Ultimate is 100% behind USA Ultimate’s Live Ultimate brand and the values that we see within it, which are very close to our own at VC,” commented VC Ultimate owner Adriana Withers. “Applying Spirit of the Game in everything we do is something that we strive to achieve every day, and that’s really what we think Live Ultimate is all about for our community – on and off the field. Incorporating the colours and shapes of the Live Ultimate brand into new apparel concepts has been inspiring, thinking about how each aspect is different but fits together. Just like the individuals that make up our sport.”
“After establishing Live Ultimate through our social platforms, digital media and other physical ad campaigns, we’re excited to bring the brand to life in a different, more tangible way,” commented Andy Lee, USA Ultimate’s managing director of marketing, communications and brand. “Particularly after seeing how well our Pull Together spot resonated with people from both inside and outside of the ultimate community and the deep, emotional reaction it elicited. VC Ultimate is the perfect partner to support an apparel line, and not just because of their quality gear and inspiring designs, but because of VC’s authentic alignment with the values signified by the brand and their longtime, unwavering commitment to them.”
Live Ultimate is supported by several brand ambassadors and many of ultimate’s top athletes, including Claire Chastain, Trent Dillon, Dylan Freechild, Jimmy Mickle, Raha Mozaffari, Carolyn Normile, Anraya Palmer, Opi Payne, Jesse Shofner and Nicky Spiva.
An initial line of apparel will be available online this spring at vcultimate.com and on site at USA Ultimate championship events, beginning with the USA Ultimate Division III College Championships, May 18-19 in Bryan-College Station, Texas.
