Latest news with #GoldenTickets
New York Times
29-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
New MLB-backed pro softball league eager to capitalize on sport's surging popularity
Arkansas softball star Bri Ellis hadn't thought much about summer plans before her senior season started in February. 'I was thinking I'd have to go find a job,' she said. 'Go back home (to Houston), find a place to live.' But the slugger's future abruptly changed after a Razorbacks home game on April 18. Former Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng, now commissioner of the new Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL), walked onto the field and surprised her with one of 12 'Golden Tickets' — an invite to join the new professional league, which begins play next month. Two weeks later, the infielder was drafted No. 2 overall by the Talons, one of the league's four inaugural teams, joining a roster that includes former college stars like Alabama pitcher Montana Fouts and UCLA shortstop Maya Brady. A post shared by AUSL (@theauslofficial) Their season begins June 7, right after the Women's College World Series, which has surged in popularity in recent years, drawing an average of 2 million viewers for last year's Oklahoma-Texas final. Given the recent surge in women's sports, particularly the WNBA, organizers believe the time is ripe for softball, on the eve of its return to the Olympics in 2028. Advertisement Major League Baseball announced Thursday that it is making a multi-year financial investment in the new professional softball league, which includes airing games on MLB Network and marketing the league across MLB's digital platforms. 'This is one of the biggest investments that we've made in an outside entity, ever,' MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told The Athletic. 'Our goal is to get a softball league into the same position of stability that the WNBA has found.' This summer, the Talons, Bandits, Volts and Blaze will play 24-game regular seasons, barnstorming across 10 cities over seven weeks. The first games are in Rosemont, Ill., and Wichita, Kan. Other hosts include Omaha, Neb., Seattle and Salt Lake City. The championship is in Tuscaloosa, Ala. In addition to MLB Network, ESPN will air 19 games across its networks. The teams held a 12-round draft in late January to fill most of their rosters, with the Bandits selecting former Oklahoma State pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl as the No. 1 pick. That was followed by a college draft on May 3 from among a pool of 12 seniors who received Golden Tickets. Oklahoma pitcher Sam Landry, who will make her WCWS debut Thursday against Tennessee, went No. 1 overall to the Volts. Another WCWS participant, Florida outfielder Korbe Otis, went No. 6 to the Blaze. In 2026, the league will grow to six teams, which will be anchored in their home cities. AUSL is hardly the first attempt at a professional league for women's softball. Most recently, there was National Pro Fastpitch, which died in 2021. None came particularly close to reaching mainstream sports awareness. But current and former coaches and stars in the sport say this is by far the most ambitious attempt. '(AUSL) is nothing like anything before it,' said ESPN analyst and two-time Olympian Jessica Mendoza, who played in National Pro Fastpitch for four seasons. 'From the amount of marketing, the promotion, the Golden Tickets, the creativity, the backing from every big name that's in the sport, new and old. We've never been this united.' Advertisement Athletes Unlimited, a women's sports venture, was launched in 2020 by former New York City FC president Jon Patricof and investor Jonathan Soros. In past summers, they staged AUX, a mini-softball season staged at a singular venue. AUSL is considered an entirely new property, though the previous version (rebranded as AUSL All-Star Cup) will take place as well in late summer. 'There's this long history of this sport performing incredibly well on television, tracking huge audiences,' Patricof said. 'We thought it was incredibly underdeveloped at the pro level, and thought it was a sleeping giant.' The group had previously invested in the 'low eight figures' in softball, said a person familiar with the league's finances. It has tripled that amount in launching AUSL. That's in addition to MLB's investment. 'The big thing we've been missing over the years is the finances,' longtime Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said. 'The WNBA would not be what it is without the financial backing of the NBA. And that's pretty much true for any women's professional league that has been successful.' Many of softball's all-time greats have roles within the league. Mendoza, Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman and Natasha Watley serve on the board. And the teams' general managers are Osterman (Volts), Lisa Fernandez (Talons), Dana Sorensen (Blaze) and Jenny Dalton-Hill (Bandits). Either Ng or a softball great flew to each of the players' schools to make those surprise Golden Ticket presentations during the season. Some of the videos of those emotional moments ricocheted around social media. A post shared by AUSL (@theauslofficial) 'People who don't really know much about softball knew about the Golden Tickets,' said Texas A&M pitcher Emiley Kennedy, now with the Bandits. 'Random students walking to class were like, 'Congrats on your draft pick!'' But there's a long way to go from one-off Instagram videos to mainstream sports relevance. While the WCWS attracts millions of fans for 10 days each summer, interest in regular-season college softball remains modest and fragmented. (ESPN's 2024 regular-season broadcasts averaged 190,000 viewers.) Advertisement 'There is a level of interest in women's sports much higher today than it was at the time of the prior (pro softball) attempts,' Manfred said. 'And with this investment, this league has a runway to establish itself that some of the prior attempts did not have.' Ultimately, AUSL has to provide a compelling product. Fans get hooked on college softball not just because of the yellow ball and the monster home runs, but also due to the players' personalities and exuberant celebrations. Plus, the games are intense. 'Back in the past, to be honest, when there was a pro league, it was kind of, who cares who wins,' said Oklahoma and Team USA coach Patty Gasso. 'I think (AUSL) can really, really grow, as long as these are competitive games.' Mendoza said it will certainly help if the players can make enough money for softball to be their full-time vocation. Especially those who are gunning for a spot on the 2028 Olympic team. Fouts, the ex-Alabama star and current Team USA pitcher, has been mostly running youth camps and tournaments since finishing her college career in 2023. Now she has a new job. 'I've wanted to be a professional softball player since I was 7 years old, but the older I got, the more I realized it wasn't really a thing,' she said. 'Now I'll be able to inspire the next generation: 'Hey, what do you want to be when you grow up? I'll be a professional softball player,' and it's not just wishful thinking.' (Photo of Sam Landry and Jessica Mendoza courtesy of AUSL)
Malaysian Reserve
26-04-2025
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
ONO PHARMA USA Announces 2025 Golden Ticket CompetitionNow Accepting Applications from Innovative Startups
Ono Partnering with LabCentral and MBC BioLabs for Fifth Consecutive Year CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — ONO PHARMA USA today announced partnerships with LabCentral in Cambridge, Mass., and MBC BioLabs in San Francisco and San Carlos, CA to award each organization one Golden Ticket for an innovative life sciences startup company. The competition is sponsored by ONO PHARMA USA's parent company, Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Ono), and applications will be received through May 2025. The Golden Ticket awards provide two promising early-stage R&D companies lab space and mentorship, components that are vital to the success of promising life science businesses. The competition seeks proposals from startup companies in the oncology, immunology, neurology, and specialty areas. The Golden Tickets Ono is sponsoring will provide one outstanding applicant lab space and related services at each of the partner locations, as well as mentorship from Ono's renowned researchers and business leaders across its global network. LabCentral and MBC BioLabs have partnered with Ono since 2021. Eight companies have won a Golden Ticket, including Leverna, a biotech based in Cambridge, Mass., that specializes in the RNA regulatory processes and regulate gene expression and protein function, and a San Francisco biotech dedicated to creating new antibody/protein with generative AI and data generation. Interested applicants may submit their non-confidential company presentations to: LabCentral, by May 30, to: The Golden Ticket winner will receive a $50,000 credit towards space available at LabCentral's flagship site in Kendall Square for use within a 13-month period, beginning upon receipt. Residents have access to a full range of services, equipment, and amenities. MBC BioLabs, by June 6, to: Winners will receive one-year free lab space at MBC BioLabs in San Francisco and San Carlos, and access to its shared amenities and services. Initial submissions will be accepted for each location, Cambridge, San Francisco and San Carlos, and reviewed by Ono's internal committee. Finalists for each location will be notified and invited to present to Ono in person or virtually at the end of July. Winners will be presented with the Golden Tickets shortly after that. In 2021, Ono entered sponsorship agreements with LabCentral and MBC BioLabs, organizations that support the development of biotech startups and entrepreneurs by providing access to comprehensive laboratory facilities and technologies. Ono has long been a proponent of collaboration in R&D and credits its open innovation model for supporting key scientific breakthroughs over the years. 'As longtime believers in open innovation and the power of partnerships, we are excited to be partnering with LabCentral and MBC BioLabs to offer this Golden Ticket competition,' said Kunihiko Ito, President and CEO of ONO PHARMA USA. 'We encourage companies who are doing outstanding work in Ono's four focus areas – oncology, immunology, neurology, and specialty medicine – to apply. It's our goal to deliver first-in-class medicines to patients who are waiting for them, by leveraging startup technology and Ono's expertise.' About ONO PHARMA USA ONO PHARMA USA, established in 1998 as the U.S. subsidiary of Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., is pursuing the clinical development of new drug candidates. In addition, ONO PHARMA USA is engaged in promotion of the discovery alliances and licensing activities to expand Ono's development pipeline and pursue the commercialization opportunities in the U.S. For more information, please visit About Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. delivers innovative therapies for patients worldwide. Upholding its philosophy of 'Dedicated to the Fight against Disease and Pain,' Ono targets areas with unmet medical needs including oncology, immunology and neurology, and fosters partnerships with academic and biotech organizations to accelerate drug discovery. Through its affiliate, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Ono is accelerating clinical development and commercial operations in the US and Europe to drive global business expansion and further its commitment to patient care. For more information, please visit the company's website at About LabCentral A private, non-profit institution, LabCentral is a launchpad for high potential life-sciences and biotech startups with 225,000 square feet of space across Kendall Square in Cambridge, Mass., and the Harvard University campus. Founded in 2013, LabCentral offers a full complement of programming and networking to life sciences entrepreneurs in addition to fully permitted laboratory and office space for early stage and growing life sciences companies. More information is available at About MBC BioLabs MBC BioLabs is dedicated to helping life-science startups succeed. By renting space as small as a single lab bench and providing these entrepreneurial scientists with access to millions of dollars of equipment, MBC BioLabs allows companies to be fast, focused, and frugal. It has five sites: two in the Mission Bay neighborhood in San Francisco and three campuses in San Carlos, California. Each site has a complete molecular biology core facility that allows companies to do experiments on day one. MBC BioLabs has partnerships with leading pharmaceutical and life-science companies as well as a built-in venture capital firm, Mission BioCapital. These partnerships provide entrepreneurs with valuable insights about where to focus their efforts and accelerates the innovation pipeline. Since opening in 2013, MBC BioLabs has helped launch and grow over 350 companies. These companies have brought over 175 programs into the clinic, produced 13 approved diagnostics, and raised over $20 billion. For more information, please visit the website at
Malaysian Reserve
22-04-2025
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
FREESMO Rallies to Support Ex-Smokers Ahead of the Disposable Vape Ban with Golden Ticket Campaign
BRISTOL, England, April 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — As the UK prepares for the nationwide ban on disposable vapes coming into force on 1st June 2025, FREESMO is stepping up to support ex-smokers with the launch of a Golden Ticket campaign designed to keep people smoke-free. Built by people who care, trusted by people ready to change, FREESMO has built its reputation on one simple mission: helping smokers ditch cigarettes for life. Now, with the disposable vape ban fast approaching, FREESMO is taking action to ensure that former smokers don't return to cigarettes out of confusion or convenience. Running until 1st June, the Golden Ticket campaign is all about celebrating and supporting the smoke-free movement. All first-time buyers spending £10 or more at will be entered into a weekly prize draw to win one of twenty Golden Tickets. Each Golden Ticket awards its recipient with a £100 Amazon voucher. The campaign will run in the lead-up to the disposable ban with prize opportunities updated regularly throughout to include unbeatable discounts and unrivalled multibuy deals. While the prize pool is generous, the message behind the campaign is even more significant: FREESMO is here to support your smoke-free journey, even as the vape landscape shifts. 'The disposable ban will leave many people scrambling for alternatives, and we refuse to let that confusion push anyone back to smoking,' says Georgi Keckarovski. 'That's why we're launching this campaign — to guide people through the transition, and make sure no one is left behind.' The upcoming ban — aimed at reducing youth vaping and protecting the environment — will make it illegal to sell or supply disposable vapes in the UK, both online and in shops. While the environmental and public health goals are clear, thousands of adult ex-smokers who rely on disposables to stay smoke-free could be left at risk of relapse. FREESMO's expert team of smoke-free product specialists is ready to help. Through its Smoke-Free Questionnaire, FREESMO offers free, personalised product recommendations tailored to each user's needs — drawing on a wide range of smoke-free alternatives from top brands. 'We're not here to push one product — we're here to find the most effective option to help each individual stop smoking,' says Georgi. 'For many, disposables were just the start of their smoke-free journey. Now, it's time to take the next step. From nicotine pouches to nicotine-free vapes, FREESMO can support all disposable users in staying smoke free.' Visit FREESMO for further help and support in transitioning to a smoke-free lifestyle. About FREESMO FREESMO is more than just a service; it's a collaborative effort powered by a team of experts, including counsellors and product specialists. Our professional team is at the heart of our solution, offering extensive knowledge and data on smoke-free products from a variety of brands. With a deep understanding of the psychological aspects of quitting, we're committed to providing comprehensive support and guidance throughout your transformative journey. We envision a world where individuals seamlessly transition to smoke-free alternatives, and everyone has access to personalised assistance on their path towards a smoke-free life. Photo: Media Contact Luisa Figueroa Public Relations at Fairway Corporate Solutions SRL
