Sources: MLB purchasing stake in fledgling AUSL

Major League Baseball is purchasing an equity involvement successful the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, partnering with the fledgling league that is preparing for its archetypal four-team play and plans to grow further successful aboriginal years, sources told ESPN.

With yearly women's sports revenues present successful excess of $1 cardinal a year, the imprimatur of MLB helps found the AUSL arsenic a viable semipermanent entity successful a athletics that has seen aggregate nonrecreational leagues fold. MLB's involvement successful the AUSL is much than 20%, according to a source, and the league volition assistance the AUSL successful selling and contented organisation successful summation to the fiscal component.

"It's a watershed infinitesimal for pro women's softball, pro women's sports," Athletes Unlimited CEO and co-founder Jon Patricof told ESPN. "This is simply a fiscal concern but besides astir a fig of things that wealth can't buy."

While the NBA launched the WNBA successful 1996 and owns astir 60% of the league, nary large men's North American nonrecreational sports league had made a important post-creation concern successful its women's counterpart. The AUSL is owned by Athletes Unlimited, which besides runs women's hoops and volleyball leagues and has hosted softball events for the past 5 years successful suburban Chicago. The AUSL volition diagnostic 4 teams and play successful 12 locations this summer, and successful 2026, it plans to found teams based successful cities.

"We deliberation the clip is close to get into the abstraction with a credible partner," said Tony Reagins, MLB's main shot improvement officer. "We privation this to beryllium not bully but great. We privation to make much opportunities for young women. Now they person thing to strive for that's going to beryllium around."

Already the AUSL struck a woody with ESPN to broadcast 33 games this summer, and the concern with MLB volition aerial games connected MLB Network -- including 1 connected June 7, the league's opening time -- and MLB.tv. All 72 of the AUSL's games, Patricof said, volition beryllium connected linear TV. Additionally, AUSL players volition be MLB's All-Star Game and postseason to assistance turn consciousness astir women's nonrecreational softball.

In 2002, MLB partnered with National Pro Fastpitch -- a league that existed for 18 years with constricted media organisation -- but did not marque a important concern arsenic it has with the AUSL.

"Obviously they judge successful the accidental that exists successful the concern of women's sports," Patricof said. "But besides evidently spot however important it is to enactment the athletics astatine each levels. Hopefully, astatine immoderate point, the AUSL tin payment MLB, but successful the abbreviated term, it's precise overmuch astir however MLB tin payment pro women's softball."

Discussions connected a woody started successful 2024, erstwhile the AUSL was connected with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and lawman commissioner for concern and media Noah Garden. In April 2025, the AUSL hired Kim Ng -- the erstwhile Miami Marlins wide manager who spent astir a decennary moving nether Manfred -- arsenic the league's commissioner.

"We watched however they went astir their business," Reagins said. "Very creative. They took immoderate risks. And the enactment squad was solid."

Though MLB volition proceed to enactment programs encouraging girls to play baseball, Reagins said, the size of softball audiences was intolerable to ignore. The Women's College World Series has drawn beardown ratings successful caller years, and with AUSL drafting players from this assemblage play to complement immoderate of the sport's biggest names joining the league arsenic advisers - among them Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman and ESPN expert Jessica Mendoza - the AUSL hopes bringing unneurotic past and contiguous leads to a amended aboriginal for the sport.

"This is conscionable getting started," Patricof said. "We've enactment each these pieces together, we motorboat June 7, but it's inactive incredibly aboriginal days successful wherever we envision the AUSL going. We've got each the close pieces successful place, and present it's a question of america executing, increasing alongside our partners, the players, and truly gathering what we deliberation fans and athletes deserve."