  Finite frames can be viewed as mass points distributed in $N$-dimensional
Euclidean space. As such they form a subclass of a larger and rich class of
probability measures that we call probabilistic frames. We derive the basic
properties of probabilistic frames, and we characterize one of their subclasses
in terms of minimizers of some appropriate potential function. In addition, we
survey a range of areas where probabilistic frames, albeit, under different
names, appear. These areas include directional statistics, the geometry of
convex bodies, and the theory of t-designs.
