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After months of competition, the 2026 United Grid League Championship is coming to RP Funding Center Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 3-4.
Two days of playoff competition will determine the league’s next champion after one of its most competitive seasons to date. Throughout the season, standings kept shifting, new teams broke through, and close finishes kept the playoff picture open.
United Grid League is a sport that was intentionally designed to be engaging and fun to watch, according to Mather Wiswall, United Grid League commissioner. “It’s structured in a way that’s really easy to follow,” he said.
The championship event will include additional activities like a cornhole tournament with cash prizes and face painting.
Polk County residents can get two-for-one tickets to watch as six teams, including three from Florida, go head-to-head for glory and a $20,000 prize.
WHAT: United Grid League Championship
WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 3-4, activities begin at 9 a.m. each day
WHERE: RP Funding Center
TICKETS: United Grid League is offering 2-for-1 tickets for Polk County residents. Visit unitedgridleague.com/lakeland or use code POLK to take advantage of this offer.
Single-day adult tickets start at $29. Tickets for kids 12 and under are $14.50 for the weekend. Children under 2 are free.
Extreme elements and close finishes
Teams are made up of men and women competing together, racing to complete extreme athletic challenges and movements called Elements. “Each team is a collection of world-class athletes from CrossFit, Olympic weightlifting, strongman, and gymnastics, and they each have their own role in a series of races that they complete head-to-head against another team,” Wiswall said.
“The elements performed are extremely impressive to watch,” Wiswall said. “You get gymnasts doing flips and people moving really fast and over boxes with weights, so it’s really physically demanding and entertaining from a player performance perspective.”
Wiswall said the United Grid League has both men and women head coaches that determine each team’s strategy. The races are short, leading to really close finishes and making the competition even more exciting to watch, according to Wiswell.
“It comes down to split seconds on performances that yield wins and losses. There’s a lot of upsets. There’s a lot of close finishes,” he said.
Typically, the fastest team wins, but teams also earn points that can impact the outcome of the competition.
Road to the championship
To earn their spot in the championship, ten teams competed in four competitions, starting with Miami in May, Lakeland in June, and New York and Dallas in August.
Six teams remain to compete in this year’s championship: the Fort Lauderdale Lions, Palm Beach Breakers, Las Vegas Venom, Southwest Florida Sharks, New York Wolves, and Houston Bandits.
The Lions will face the Breakers and the Venom will take on the Sharks in the semifinals on Saturday. Winners will face No. 1 seed teams, the Wolves, at 9 a.m. and the Bandits, at 11:45 a.m. on Sunday. The championship will be decided in a competition beginning at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
“The Fort Lauderdale Lions is one of the original teams,” Wiswall said. “They’ve actually made the playoffs seven times out of the 10 seasons we’ve had. They’ve been in the championship five times and won it three times.”
But the Fort Lauderdale Lions have never won back to back. Wiswall said last year’s championship winners, the Sharks, are vying to be the first team to repeat and win two years in a row.
More than a competition
Wiswall said the event offers more than heart-pounding excitement and competition.
Face painting will be available for kids throughout the weekend.
Attendees can also sign up to show off their skills in the Grid League Cornhole Open — a double-elimination doubles tournament on Saturday and again on Sunday, with $500 prize each day and room for 28 teams.
The Vendor Village will showcase around 15 exhibitors, featuring gear, apparel, and supplements both days.
Grid League Community Days allow all fitness levels to experience the fun and exciting sport. Individuals, small groups, or full gyms can sign up to play on the same floor as the Grid League teams.
This year, as part of the championship, the organization will hold its first ever in-person American Grid League trials. Individuals will be able to compete for cash prizes and the opportunity to be a part of a team in 2027.
The United Grid League is also bringing two additional events that require separate registration: Strength Sports America’s competition, The Strength of 3, featuring the log clean and jerk, atlas stone over bar, and deadlift, and the Future Titan Games, a youth strongman competition for athletes ages 4 to 12.
Saturday, Oct. 3
9 a.m. – All Levels Grid Community Play
12:15 p.m. – East Conference Semifinal
Fort Lauderdale Lions vs. Palm Beach Breakers
3 p.m. – West Conference Semifinal
Las Vegas Venom vs. Southwest Florida Sharks
Sunday, Oct. 4
9 a.m. – East Conference Final
New York Wolves vs. East semifinal winner
11:45 a.m. – West Conference Final
Houston Bandits vs. West semifinal winner
2 p.m. – All Levels Grid Community Play
4 p.m. – 2026 United Grid League Championship
East champion vs. West champion
Ten teams and growing
In 2014, Tony Budding, former head of media at CrossFit, founded the National Pro Grid League (NPGL).
Wiswall and his sister, Ruby George, owners in the NPGL at the time, broke off to form the completely independent Florida Grid League in 2017.
The Florida Grid League started with six teams in Florida. As it has gained competitors and followers, it has grown into the United Grid League.
With the addition of the New York Wolves in 2026, United Grid League grew to 10 teams. They also gained visibility, as the league made its national broadcast debut as part of ESPN’s The Ocho programming and later expanded that reach with live competition on Sports Illustrated TV. Wiswall said they also got hundreds of millions of views online across on their social media platforms.
The Dallas Deputies will join the league in 2027.
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