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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)
USA Today
28-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia could be kept in smaller SEC schedule
Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia could be kept in smaller SEC schedule Show Caption Hide Caption Kirby Smart on college football's future Kirby Smart urges leaders to prioritize the game's future over personal or conference agendas in playoff talks. MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — Light the cigars, folks, and score a noteworthy step toward the preservation of SEC rivalry games. A longstanding discussion point around SEC circles has been that, unless the conference moves to a nine-game conference schedule, prominent secondary rivalry games like Alabama-Tennessee and Auburn-Georgia could fall off the annual schedule. But, there's a conference schedule model on the table that would preserve multiple annual rivalry games for at least some SEC schools, even within an eight-game conference schedule format. Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia and Texas-Texas A&M are among the rivalry games that could be preserved within a continued eight-game format. The rivalry games for those teams would come in addition to other rivalries like the Iron Bowl, Florida-Georgia and Oklahoma-Texas. 'We're attentive to real, key rivalries, and we have (eight-game) models that can accommodate those,' SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said Tuesday. The conference eliminated divisions after expanding to 16 teams with the additions of Oklahoma and Texas. That prompted a renewed look at schedule format and rivalry preservation. Debate on the SEC's schedule continues among stakeholders this week at the conference's spring meetings. Two years ago, the conference considered two primary schedule models: An eight-game model that would preserve only one rival per team; or, a nine-game model that would earmark three annual rivals per team. The nine-game model would have assured Alabama would keep playing the Iron Bowl and the 'Third Saturday in October' game against Tennessee, after which the victorious team lights cigars. For Georgia, the nine-game model would mean continuing to play Florida every year, but also keeping alive the 'Deep South's Oldest Rivalry' against Auburn. OPINION: SEC football schedule expansion is slam dunk, but isn't that simple The SEC voted in 2023 to retain an eight-game conference schedule for two years. But, the conference devised the eight-game lineup so that it kept key secondary rivalries like Auburn-Georgia and Alabama-Tennessee on the schedule. Now, the SEC's schedule is up for review again. The SEC has not voted on a schedule format for 2026 and beyond. So, will it be eight or nine games? No verdict yet. But, even if it stays at eight, that doesn't mean Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia or Texas-Texas A&M must go on the chopping block. Sankey made that clear Tuesday. Sankey wouldn't commit to every SEC team being assigned two rivals within an eight-game schedule model, but keeping multiple rivalry games alive is an option for certain teams. 'We have ideas,' Sankey said. Sankey would not commit to a timeline on when the SEC will vote on its schedule format for 2026. One item affecting that decision: The College Football Playoff format for 2026 has not been approved. Multiple athletics directors and coaches expressed reluctance to determine a conference schedule model before the future CFP format is decided. And, in fact, Sankey said the future playoff format might not be finalized until several months from now. The uncertain nature of the CFP 'is a bit of an inconvenient reality, but that's reality,' Sankey said. Sankey, at least, sounded open to the SEC deciding the conference's 2026 schedule format before the playoff format is hammered out. 'You can make decisions about what you can control,' like the conference's schedule, Sankey said, 'and then you can have influence over' the playoff format. One element within the SEC's control: Whether to retain primary rivalry games, plus at least some secondary rivalry games. And Sankey made clear that multiple avenues remain to retain some prominent secondary rivalries. 'The conversation about annual games that need to be played has been a focus' for several years, Sankey said. That's encouraging news for those wanting to smell the cigar smoke every year after the 'Third Saturday in October,' or those who want to see Auburn and Georgia continue a rivalry that dates to 1892. The rivalries continued throughout the conference's division era, even though those rivals were in opposite divisions. Even as the conference swelled to 12 teams, then to 14, and now at 16, Auburn-Georgia and Alabama-Tennessee have remained a fixture of the SEC's schedule in every season since World War II. 'We've presented (a model) to protect those in an eight-game schedule, going forward," Sankey said. Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@ and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
