Major League Baseball is investing in a new professional female softball league, Commissioner Robert Manfred announced on Thursday the “Mornings CBS”.
The partnership with the Ligue des Athletes Unlimited Softball marks the MLB’s first major investment in female professional sports.
Manfred said that the time was fine for investment.
“We were very involved in the softball space as part of our youth participation programs. And the growing popularity of women’s sports motivated us to look around,” said Manfred. “We examined the startups, we tried to make an investment, and we thought that Ausl was a good adjustment for us.”
When asked why MLB chose softball rather than women’s baseball, Manfred cited the advantages of infrastructure.
“There is such a large softball infrastructure that exists. A pipeline of athletes,” he said. “We thought we could get to the point of having a sustainable league much faster with softball.”
Kim Ng will be a commissioner of the New Athletes Unlimited Softball League. NG, who worked at MLB for 10 years before becoming ausl curator, said the partnership is a big step for the two sports. NG noted that female college softball “regularly exceeds men” during their respective colleges.
“Having worked in the Major League Baseball for ten years and having led this softball division, we were still trying to connect with the women’s team, you know, with the softball of the women’s college,” she said.
Manfred said: “Kim showed major leadership skills while she was with us, big management skills. I did not doubt that she had the skills to succeed in a job like this.”
MLB will broadcast some games on its network and streaming service, will help marketing and provide financial support for the league operations.
The AUSL will be launched on Saturday June 7, with matches of the opening day in Rosemont, Illinois and Wichita, Kansas. The Wichita game is broadcast exclusively on MLB Network and MLB.TV at 7:30 p.m. he.
The four teams of the League, The Bandits, Blaze, Telons and Volts, will play a season of 24 games until July 23, leading to a series of championships from July 26 to 28 at the Rhoads stadium of the University of Alabama.
Ausl will become city based in 2026. This inaugural season offers matches in 12 cities.
Unique game tickets are now available, with more information on theausl.com.