MLB Partners and Invests in Women’s Athletes Unlimited Softball League
Women’s sports continues to gain momentum and popularity. We have seen positive triumphs in the WNBA, gymnastics, track and field and tennis; with Coco Gauff, Simone Biles and Caitlin Clark being named some of the highest paid women athletes of 2024. This unprecedented success and traction is leading to expansion and additional opportunities in a number of sports. Major League Baseball is now also entering the picture. On Thursday, it was announced that the MLB will partner and invest in the Women’s Athletes Unlimited Softball League.
The AUSL (Athletes Unlimited Softball League) has been moving full steam ahead all year. Rapidly developing the league and putting necessary elements into place. The teams are set, the players selected and the softball entity will commence with its inaugural season on June 7.
The official AUSL provides a few details on how the official season of competition shall go. It reveals,
“Launching in June 2025, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) is a professional women’s softball league featuring four teams playing a 24-game season in a traditional format. It creates a new opportunity for the world’s best professional softball players to compete.
The league is complemented by the AUSL All-Star Cup – a four-week season where 60 athletes compete utilizing Athletes Unlimited’s innovative format.”
Furthermore, the league’s season will involve the four teams playing 24 games apiece in 10 different cities; culminating in a best-of-three championship series in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on July 26-28.
The four teams mentioned have already been named. They are the:
- Talons
- Bandits
- Blaze
- Volts
The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) had two drafts in 2025. The inaugural draft, which allocated players to the four teams, was on January 29, 2025. Additionally, the AUSL College Draft, where players were selected from college programs, was on May 3, 2025.
During January’s inaugural draft, each team drafted 12 players from a pool of more than 80 available players. Former UCLA star Maya Brady (Tom Brady’s niece) was one of the most recent players to sign with the league and was drafted in the fifth round by the Talons.
MLB Partners and Invests in Women’s Athletes Unlimited Softball League
However, there is a familiar face at the helm of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League. Major League Baseball fans will recognize her in a heartbeat. The league is guided by its commissioner, the barrier-breaking former MLB executive Kim Ng.
Kim Ng helped shape and also guide the Marlins to a playoff appearance in 2023. One of the 4 times that the organization has made the postseason in their 33 seasons. Nevertheless, Ng released a statement as commissioner regarding the MLB and AUSL partnership; she states,
“This is a watershed moment for women’s sports and especially for softball. MLB’s investment will supercharge our efforts to build the sustainable professional league this sport has long deserved and sends a powerful message about the value of female athletes and the importance of creating professional opportunities for them.”
Yes, what an exciting time for these young players and their teammates, coaches, families, friends and fans. We look forward to covering the AUSL as it gets underway this summer. Opening day is June 7 in Rosemont, Illinois, and Wichita, Kansas.
**Want Even More Sports, News, Hot Takes, Stats as well as Athlete Celebrity Sighting Updates; Insights as well as Trends? Well, be sure to join all of us Sports Feens over on Youtube to get an additional sports fix; and also don’t forget to check out all of our new Podcast topics and episodes. Plus, get fast highlights and trivia daily by following us on TikTok. Just Click HERE**
Thoughts on MLB Partners and Invests in Women’s Athletes Unlimited Softball League !? Well let’s connect! We are always around on social media posting as well as chatting away. And we would love to hear some POV from you. Therefore, join the discussion and talk all things Sports Feen; athletics as well as breaking industry news related with us by dropping a comment or two. Get into our comment section on YT; or also hit us up on our TikTok page or tweet us @SportsFeen.
