United Grid League Is Back — And Bigger Than Ever
The 2026 United Grid League season kicks off this weekend, with opening day on Saturday, May 23, at the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition Center in Miami.
This year, the league has expanded to ten teams, with Carolina and New York as new additions and the first teams from the East Coast. New York signed last June, and Carolina signed in February.
The first Northeast event will also be hosted this season in New York City on August 8-9.
- “We’re from Philadelphia (my sister and I are co-founders), so I’m really excited to hold our first Northeast event and share our sport with some great CrossFit and sports cities in that region,” says Mather Wiswall, Grid League Commissioner.
Wiswall expects strong fan support for the event.
- “New York Wolves fans and general Grid League fans have really come on strong and rallied around that event so far. It’s going to be held at the American Dream Mall, which is a destination for an incredible experience beyond just the match. It’s got an indoor water park, a theme park, and lots of fun activities beyond just great shopping and food. It’s going to be a blast,” Wiswall said.
This season, Grid League has partnered with multiple traditional and streaming TV channels to distribute matches across the country, including Canada, in new ways beyond its YouTube channel. (Wiswall is keeping details secret for now but will share soon.)
Fans can expect to see some well-known Grid League veterans returning for this season, including Alec Smith, Rebecca Rouse, Chelsea Raineri, Paula Leyes, and Dan Tai. Some 2026 Grid League rookies include Kristin Pope, Halei Jo Arroyo, Lucy Saltmarsh, Nathan Tsuji, and Kyra Milligan.
New for 2026
There have been additions to the matches this season as well.
Remind me: A regular ringer-point race is a head-to-head race in which each team in a match selects a single player from its roster as its best option to compete in a short, skill-based race.
- There are traditionally two ringer-point races in a Grid League match, with each team selecting one from 6 possibilities established in advance.
New this year, there will now be a third that fans can vote on.
Once teams have selected their versions of the team ringer point race (one each), the remaining four options will be available for voting on our website. Anyone can visit the website page and select which version they want to see. One vote per email address.
Teams will compete in the option that receives the most fan votes.
The twist is that teams won’t learn which race they’ll face until halfway through the match, at the end of the Ladder race. This will force teams into last-minute strategy sessions.
- It could affect their plans heading into the final race, which frequently decides the outcome of the match.
The fan-voted ringer takes place right before the final race of the match, the sprint relay.
The 2026 season kicks off in just two days at the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition Center. The event will be part of the Miami International Fitness Expo, which brings several fitness-related sports together in one venue. Tickets are on sale now and will likely sell out.
