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.

On June 23, the 50th anniversary of Title IX, Jennie Finch reflected on the doors the landmark legislation opened for her while also paying it forward in women’s sports. The softball legend and current MLB® youth ambassador recognized the first of four recipients of the Jennie Finch Empowerment Award presented by Arm & Hammer, which honors the top performers at MLB®-led softball programs around the country.

As Grace Shary, a high school junior in Long Beach, Calif., accepted the award at the Softball Elite Development Invitational in Vero Beach, Fla., she also relished the opportunity to meet Finch in person. The Olympic gold medalist and NCAA All-American is on hand each time to personally announce the winner.

Shary and the three other award recipients — Samantha Santana of DREAM RBI in New York City, Christy Concepcion of the Miami Marlins Youth Academy and Maritza Lopez-Gonzalez of the Philadelphia Phillies Youth Academy — are recognized for their demonstrations of leadership, motivation, commitment, dedication, humility and integrity in their schools, on their teams and throughout their communities. Each student-athlete receives a $10,000 college scholarship, courtesy of Arm & Hammer, and a trip to the MLB® World Series presented by Capital One.

To date, Arm & Hammer has donated $140,000 to the MLB® Youth Foundation and Jennie Finch Empowerment Award honorees.

“I don’t really have a college fund, so getting this scholarship is very, very important,” Concepcion said. “I don’t really have enough money to save up for college, and honestly it’ll make my experience so much easier.”

Santana, who received the award in the Los Angeles area in July, said she dreams of moving from New York City to play softball at UCLA because of the program’s history and her role model, four-time All-American pitcher Rachel Garcia.

Lopez-Gonzalez plans to use the scholarship money toward her goal of becoming a doctor. Before that, the third baseman realized another dream when she and the other award winners attended Game 2 of the MLB® World Series presented by Capital One between her hometown Phillies and the Houston Astros.

“I always say, I’m the one brought in to inspire and encourage,” Finch said, “but I always leave just being more inspired and more motivated to do more for the next generation because of what these young girls do and what they overcome day in and day out.”

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