MLB invests in Athletes Unlimited Softball League ahead of June debut
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Major League Baseball is investing in Athletes Unlimited to support its softball league that will debut next month, marking the first time MLB will have a comprehensive partnership with a professional women's sports league.
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MLB said Thursday it was making a strategic investment in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League of an undisclosed amount for operational costs and a commitment to help it gain visibility in various ways, including assistance with content, marketing and sales, events, distribution, editorial, and digital and social platforms. That includes marketing the AUSL and its athletes during MLB's All-Star Game and throughout the postseason.
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'This is something we're really excited about,' MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told The Associated Press. 'We studied the space hard. We think it's a real opportunity and we're excited to be involved.'
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Athletes Unlimited has featured softball since 2020, when it unveiled a unique format that crowned an individual champion. The company will launch a league with a traditional, team-based format starting June 7 and will keep its individual format for the AUSL All-Star Cup that follows.
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Manfred noted that interest in women's sports had 'escalated significantly' in recent years and his league had been looking for ways to get more involved, including the possible launch of its own softball league. He said Athletes Unlimited's overall success and its strong infrastructure helped make the decision to collaborate easier.
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'We thought rather than starting on our own and competing, that finding a place where we could invest and grow a business was a better opportunity for us,' Manfred said.
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Kim Ng, a former Major League Baseball executive, signed on as an adviser with the AUSL and was promoted to commissioner in April. Ng is the former general manager of the Miami Marlins, the first female GM in any of the major U.S. pro sports leagues, and has three World Series rings from a combined 21 years in the front offices of the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.
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'As the process moved forward and it looked like we were going to make an investment, they hired Kim, and we had a long relationship with Kim, and it just added additional comfort to the idea of making the investment,' Manfred said.
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Athletes Unlimited co-founder Jon Patricof said MLB's commitment to increasing the AUSL's visibility is as important as the financial investment.
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'They're committed to really elevating the AUSL,' he said. 'It's probably about one of the most difficult things for any sports league to do which is to get visibility and break through to new audiences, and I think MLB is already doing that for the AUSL, and there's going to be a lot more to come.'
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