Incoming offseason league Project B scored more major WNBA signings this week, as the upstart venture continues stacking its roster ahead of a planned November 2026 launch.
Indiana Fever guards Kelsey Mitchell and Sophie Cunningham have both publicly signed on with Project B, joining already announced talent like Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike and Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones, and Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd.
Also inking deals to join the inaugural season of Project B are Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso, Golden State Valkyries forward Janelle Salaün, and Li Meng, a former Washington Mystics guard and current player in the Women's Chinese Basketball Association.
The multi-continent, Formula One-style traveling tournament circuit will ultimately sign 66 international stars, as Project B looks to field six 11-player teams in its debut 2026/2027 campaign.
Project B player signings will undoubtedly impact other offseason leagues like Unrivaled and Athletes Unlimited, but the new venture is also looming large over the ongoing WNBA CBA talks.
With negotiations racing toward this Sunday's extended deadline, Project B is putting WNBA compensation offerings under increased pressure, as the new league is reportedly anteing up multimillion-dollar salaries to its signees — far exceeding the 2025 WNBA maximum as well as the $1.1 million-max currently on the negotiating table.
The broadcast reach of Athletes Unlimited got even stronger this week, as the pro women's sports organization scored a blockbuster media rights extension with ESPN on Wednesday, ensuring three more years of basketball, volleyball, and softball coverage.
"The growth we've seen across Athletes Unlimited's leagues speaks to the power and appeal of women's sports," said ESPN EVP of programming and acquisitions Rosalyn Durant. "We're excited to deepen our partnership and bring even more of these moments and athletes to fans everywhere."
As part of the extended partnership, ESPN will exclusively air 50 Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) games annually, including 47 regular-season matchups and the AUSL Championship Series, with the company's titan channel ABC also committed to airing the first-ever pro softball game on network television.
The broadcast giant already has a vested interest in softball's future, with the most recent Women's College World Series Finals delivering a record-high 2.2 million viewers across ESPN networks last June.
AU's basketball and volleyball footprints are also growing, with all 24 games from each competition's season now set to air live each year.
"This renewed and expanded partnership affirms the strength of our properties and reflects the growing enthusiasm for women's professional sports," said AU chief broadcast officer Cheri Kempf.
With the 2025 WNBA Playoffs in full swing, many big-name players are shifting their focus to the winter, joining the 2026 roster for offseason leagues like 3×3 upstart Unrivaled and 5×5 Athletes Unlimited.
Connecticut Sun rookie Aneesah Morrow officially signed with AU Pro Basketball this week, joining WNBA veteran teammate Tina Charles, Las Vegas Aces standout and 2023 AU champion NaLyssa Smith, as well as fellow pro first-years in guards Kaitlyn Chen (Golden State Valkyries) and Te-Hina PaoPao (Atlanta Dream) on the AU court.
The 2026 Athletes Unlimited Basketball season also boasts several returning stars among its 40-player league roster, including Chicago Sky guard Kia Nurse, Washington Mystics forward Alysha Clark, Seattle Storm guard Lexie Brown, and New York Liberty forward Isabelle Harrison.
Tipping off its fifth season in February 2026, the month-long Nashville-based competition features rotating teams and individual leaderboards, offering an alternative to both overseas play and Unrivaled's 3×3 team format.
"It's player-driven," Charles said in her own AU Basketball signing announcement earlier this month. "I think that's really neat, you know, something that I've never been a part of, nor have I seen on men's or women's side."
How to watch the 2026 Athletes Unlimited Basketball season
The upcoming 2026 season of AU Pro Basketball runs from February 5th through March 2nd, with all 24 games airing live across several different broadcasters.
Volleyball made headlines this week, with Sportico reporting on Monday that a merger will see the two-season-old Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) join with the incoming Major League Volleyball (MLV) for a joint 2026 launch.
Though originally separate ventures, the eight-team PVF will now adopt MLV branding, setting up a unified league valued at over $325 million.
Investors include owners from the NBA and MLS, as well as three-time US Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings.
With an anticipated 10 teams set to hit courts for the inaugural 2026 season, MLV already expects to add franchises in Washington, DC, and Northern California in 2027, with further expansion to 16 total teams planned by 2028.
Likely spurred in part by the previously planned MLV defection of the PVF's marquee team, the Omaha Supernovas, the volleyball merger keeps both the 2024 champions and the 2025 title-winning Orlando Valkyries in the same league.
Other established PVF teams in Atlanta, Columbus, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, and San Diego will reportedly join Omaha and Orlando in continuing play under the new MLV banner, as will 2026 PVF expansion side Dallas.
Besides keeping top talent in-house, the consolidation of the two leagues also partially addresses the increasingly crowded women's volleyball landscape — one in which four different leagues aimed to compete in the upcoming year.
As for the remaining pro leagues — Athletes Unlimited Volleyball and 2025 debutant League One Volleyball (LOVB) — they'll continue to stand alone.
The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) crowned its inaugural champion on Sunday, with the No. 1-seed Talons lifting the first-ever AUSL trophy after sweeping the No. 2-seed Bandits in the weekend's 2025 Championship Series.
Battling inclement weather all weekend, the Talons finished out Saturday's rain-delayed Game 1 to a 3-1 win early Sunday morning, before avoiding a winner-take-all Game 3 by claiming the AUSL title in a narrow 1-0 second victory on Sunday afternoon.
AUSL Pitcher of the Year Georgina Corrick and former Alabama ace Montana Fouts held the powerful Bandits offense at bay throughout the two wins, while infielder Sydney Romero — a former two-time NCAA champion at Oklahoma — secured the Talons' title with a Game 2 sixth-inning home run.
"I wouldn't have wanted to do this anywhere else, with anybody else," Fouts said after the championship win. "I feel like we really are family. That's what makes this so special. Obviously, winning is awesome, but I just feel like whenever you step on the field with people like this, you've already won."
In addition to the Talons' 2025 championship trophy, AUSL at-large garnered plenty of success throughout its debut season, selling out 14 of the first 29 games while averaging 117,000 viewers per game on ESPN2 — a 65% increase over the 2024 Athletes Unlimited format.
That boost saw the broadcaster upgrade the final series from ESPN2 to ESPN.
"It's really been, in some ways, eye-opening," AUSL commissioner Kim Ng told Sports Business Journal earlier this month. "I don't think that any of us thought that we would get this type of reception. But everyone here is so incredibly excited."
MLB is going all in on elevating the women's diamond, with the men's pro baseball league reportedly making an eight-figure investment for an equity stake of over 20% in the brand-new Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) — just in time for the venture's debut season.
Though MLB has a long history partnering with USA Softball and sponsoring initiatives in and around the game of softball, this week's AUSL announcement marks the baseball organization's first-ever investment in a professional softball league.
"We thought rather than starting on our own and competing, that finding a place where we could invest and grow a business was a better opportunity," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told the Associated Press on Thursday.
Along with the financial backing that will bolster AUSL's operations and growth plans, MLB is partnering with the new league to boost its visibility through marketing, sales, and content distribution across MLB platforms — including the airing of select AUSL games on MLB Network and MLB.com.
"This is a watershed moment for women's sports and especially for softball," AUSL Commissioner Kim Ng — who notably broke barriers in her previous career as an SVP and, later, GM in MLB — said in a league statement.
"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."
Softball legends pitch in to build Athletes United success
Athletes Unlimited has been active in the softball space with their unique, individual athlete-centered competition system since 2020, with AUSL marking their first stab at a more traditional league format.
Beginning with the league's first pitch on June 7th, four teams — the Bandits, Blaze, Talons, and Volts — will play a traveling 24-game season across 10 cities prior to a best-of-three championship series between the top two AUSL teams in late July.
With an advisory board of former college and Team USA stars — including Jennie Finch, Natasha Watley, Jessica Mendoza, and Cat Osterman — plus a roster of US softball legends-turned-NCAA coaches like Lisa Fernandez (UCLA) and Stacey Nuveman-Deniz (San Diego State) leading the four teams, AUSL is tapping the sport's best to build a strong foundation for future league success.
With plans to establish city-based squads next year, AUSL is capitalizing on one of the country's most popular college sports — all while creating a sustainable pipeline for current and future NCAA softball stars to turn pro.
Before the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) takes the field for its inaugural season on June 7th, the pro venture is gearing up by announcing the player pool for its first-ever college draft on May 3rd.
Taking an unconventional approach to revealing the debut collegiate draft class, AUSL began handing out "golden tickets" to join the league on April 13th, showing up at NCAA games across the country to dispense invitations one at a time.
12 NCAA players to turn pro with AUSL
To date, six of the draft's 12 total players have received their golden tickets, with No. 14 Virginia Tech's Emma Lemley — a pitcher who's tossed four no-hitters so far this season — earning the historic first invite.
Joining Lemley in snagging a golden ticket to the AUSL are fellow pitchers Devyn Netz — No. 13 Arizona's two-way workhorse — and No. 2 Texas A&M southpaw Emiley Kennedy.
Also making the professional leap to AUSL are a trio of field players: No. 18 Duke shortstop and the Blue Devils' career home run leader Ana Gold, No. 6 Florida's two-time All-American left fielder Korbe Otis, and No. 9 Arkansas first baseman Bri Ellis — the NCAA's leading slugger this season.
Those six NCAA stars, along with six more to receive their elite draft invites, will join one of AUSL's four debut teams — the Volts, Bandits, Blaze, and Talons.
Beginning with the Volts, teams will select from the 12-player collegiate pool across three draft rounds, with NCAA athletes rounding out each squad's 16-player roster.
Each team is already stacked with pro veterans, with the league's inaugural January draft distributing former Women's College World Series superstars like overall No. 1 pick Lexi Kilfoyl and fellow pitcher Montana Fouts, as well as second baseman Tiare Jennings, third baseman Jessi Warren, utility player Maya Brady, and shortstop Sis Bates, across the four AUSL rosters.
How to watch the AUSL College Draft
The first-ever AUSL College Draft will being at 9 PM ET on May 3rd, with live coverage on ESPNU.
The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) hired former MLB executive Kim Ng as its first-ever commissioner on Wednesday, tapping into Ng’s 21 years of top-level experience ahead of the league’s inaugural 2025 season.
After becoming the youngest assistant general manager in baseball history for the New York Yankees in 1998, Ng inked another line into the record books as the first woman GM in any major US men’s sports league in November 2020, when she took over the front office for MLB’s Miami Marlins.
Her three-season tenure in Miami culminated in a 2023 playoff appearance — the Marlins' first in 20 years.
Ng's pivot to softball is a homecoming for the trailblazing 56-year-old exec, who played NCAA softball before breaking down MLB barriers.
"I think after 30-plus years in the business, I also owe it to myself to do some things that I hadn't necessarily had the opportunity to do in the past," Ng told The Athletic about her decision to join AUSL. "And this is, for me, it's a passion."
Prior to her commissioner appointment, Ng served as a senior advisor for AUSL, helping to develop the league into existence from a landscape full of growing parity at the college level, yet few viable pro opportunities.
"Knowing what an established, mature system of governance looks like, I think will be really helpful in establishing this league," Ng added.
AUSL takes the field with 2025 tour
Launching on June 7th — immediately following the 2025 NCAA Women's College World Series — each of the AUSL's four inaugural teams will play 24 games across a seven-week season.
The league's 2025 debut will function as a tour, with regular-season games played across eight different cities before two additional locations are added for the first-ever AUSL All-Star Cup in August.
Each city is auditioning to become one of six permanent markets for the league, which will transition to a traditional location-based set-up in 2026.
Former Oklahoma slugger Jocelyn Alo has signed on with Athletes Unlimited and will compete in the AU Pro Softball AUX this June.
The NCAA record holder in career home runs (122), total bases (761), and slugging percentage (.987), Alo was originally drafted by the league in 2022 but opted instead to join the newly debuted Women’s Professional Fastpitch.
Alo currently plays for independent pro softball team Oklahoma City Spark, with team owner Tina Floyd reportedly on board with her recent AUX signing. AUX games are scheduled for June 10-25, while the Spark's season will kick off June 19th. Alo will play for both.
Among those joining Alo on the AUX roster are former James Madison ace pitcher Odicci Alexander and former Wichita State standout middle infielder Sydney McKinney.
According to Alo, the decision to play in the Athletes Unlimited league was fueled by her desire to propel women's sports forward as well as provide more exposure to a sport that's given her "so many opportunities."
"Not only to challenge myself more, but just for the growth of the game," Alo said, explaining her reasoning to The Oklahoman. "I genuinely believe that professional softball can be a career for girls."
Joining AUX is also one more step in her plan toward representing Team USA at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
"I’m constantly thinking about how can I do these little things right in these four years to prepare me for the biggest stage of softball," she told The Oklahoman. "I definitely want to play in the Olympics, for sure."
Alo further expressed enthusiasm in the hope that the rise of other women’s sports, like women’s basketball and the NWSL, will push softball’s professional viability even higher.
"We’re seeing the NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) get their stuff going, I see the WNBA starting to get hot," she continued. "I feel like the softball community is like, 'All right, it’s our turn and it’s our turn to just demand more.'"
Angel McCoughtry is returning to basketball, joining Athletes Unlimited for its third season.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft and a two-time Olympian with USA Basketball, McCoughtry has played in just three WNBA games since 2021 due to injuries. But she will take the court again with Athletes Unlimited, with the season set to run from Feb. 29 through March 23 in Dallas.
“As the newest member of the AU family, I am beyond excited to start this journey. Basketball has always been a passion that drives me,” McCoughtry said in a release. “My focus is clear: I just want to hoop again, to be on the court where I feel most alive. I can’t wait to show the world what I got.”
The 37-year-old is feeling good, she told ESPN, and has been progressing well in both her rehabilitation and workouts.
A former star at Louisville, McCoughtry spent her first 10 WNBA seasons with the Atlanta Dream. While there, she won the 2009 Rookie of the Year award, made the All-Star game five times and was a member of three WNBA Finals teams. Twice she led the league in scoring and steals.
Since becoming a free agent in 2020, McCoughtry has bounced around, helping the Las Vegas Aces to the WNBA Finals in 2020 but missing the 2021 season with a right knee injury. She played two games for the Minnesota Lynx in 2022 before being waived.
“It’s been hell,” she told ESPN. “You go over 10 years never getting hurt. But then you get hurt, you have a surgery, and it changes things. It’s been like a domino effect.”
In November, she visited the USA Basketball camp. While there, she spent time with former Olympic teammates Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner.
McCoughtry says that she still has “something left,” and she hopes that Athletes Unlimited might help her get back to the WNBA.
“I look forward to showing that I still have ability,” she told ESPN. “I feel like playing AU can help me get back in the WNBA. I know the narrative is, ‘She hasn’t played, she’s older.’ I just want to prove basketball still exists in my world.”
Other WNBA players, including Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Brown, Allisha Gray and Sydney Colson, have signed back on for another season with Athletes Unlimited.