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2024-25 PWHL season

Thought I would share an observation about the new softball league that has me scratching my head. It’s called AUSL.

Wonderfully, they are broadcast on actual tv. ESPN2 and MLB Network. We put the games on, it’s fun to watch. However- there seems to be zero, I mean ZERO coverage of the league. No one even talks about it online, or does a fan Insta account let alone actual media like the Athletic. If you guys know of any let me know.

This contrasts with the PW which has decent national coverage from the Athletic, and active forum threads and Reddit threads and Insta fan accounts but is broadcast on YouTube in the US, womp womp. Don’t get me wrong, I know how to find it and don’t mind free, but I think a broadcast deal is preferred.

Just funny to see the different struggles and strengths of these pro leagues. Still in a great spot relative to even 3 years ago, I love the progress, but it will be interesting to see the staying power and improvements on both leagues.
 
Lindsay said:
Thought I would share an observation about the new softball league that has me scratching my head. It’s called AUSL.
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When I saw the ads, I thought that the timing is most likely to capitalize on softball returning to the LA Olympics in '28. Is this a competing pro league for SB, or have all previous softball pro leagues disappeared? Sorry for being so uninformed, but it's been a busy summer.
 
ARM said:
When I saw the ads, I thought that the timing is most likely to capitalize on softball returning to the LA Olympics in '28. Is this a competing pro league for SB, or have all previous softball pro leagues disappeared? Sorry for being so uninformed, but it's been a busy summer.
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I don't know about softball, but Athletes United Volleyball started three (?) years ago - before two competing other US-based pro leagues started up. And AU Volleyball was/is this weird arrangement where a pool of players are signed to contracts, and then teams are 'drafted' before every competition, with this odd mix of scoring during competition both on a team and individual basis. Then two weeks later, the teams and members switches again.

There is also AU women's basketball, but I know even less about it.
 
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ARM said:
When I saw the ads, I thought that the timing is most likely to capitalize on softball returning to the LA Olympics in '28. Is this a competing pro league for SB, or have all previous softball pro leagues disappeared? Sorry for being so uninformed, but it's been a busy summer.
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Ahh, that actually makes some sense, perhaps a function of the league is to be a training ground for the players that will ultimately form the 2028 team USA, and the powers that be don’t really care about media at this point. They have time to establish themselves and like you say, capitalize on the attention post LA Olympics.

I believe this is essentially the only softball pro league at this point in the US, and it was preceded by the other AU softball with the odd set up that Robert Earl described. I also don’t know much softball history but I am having crazy amounts of fun absorbing a new sport as a parent/fan.
 
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Thanks for the report about the new softball league, Lindsay. Looks exciting. I hadn't heard much about it before but also do not watch much TV, so was missing that mode of diffusion that you refer to.

I found just one Athletic article on the new league; so, yes, they really don't seem to be following it. (The article was from May 29: "New MLB-backed pro softball league eager to capitalize on sport’s surging popularity"). Even with their women's hockey coverage, I feel like Hailey Salvian only went to full-time on women's hockey around when the PWHL started - and before that she did multiple things. It would be great if they got a reporter full-time for softball!
 
Athletes Unlimited has sponsored softball games for at least 3-4 years, essentially calling them exhibition games as they toured around the country. They also played those games on ESPN, but it hasn't gained as much traction as the college games. NPF was before it and failed miserably, so hoping this league sticks.

My wife and I are huge softball fans, the hard part is recognition of the teams. The teams don't have a home base intentionally and are on TV in the summer during the weekend, which might not help. So do you just root for the team your favorite college softball player landed on? It's just hard to get into, even as a softball fan.
 
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