This weekend, for the first time ever a professional softball game will air on broadcast TV. It’s Game 1 of Athletes Unlimited Softball League’s championship series on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on ABC, between the league’s Chicago Bandits and Utah Talons.
It’s a huge milestone for the league, which only launched in June 2025. The league has six teams that play a 25-game season; the second season this summer was the first time they played in their home markets. AUSL is part of Athletes Unlimited, a six-year-old network of women’s sports leagues across volleyball, basketball, and softball.
Taking the AUSL to the next level is one of the most accomplished women in baseball—and now softball. Kim Ng was the general manager of the Miami Marlins, which made her the first woman to serve as GM of a major American men’s professional sports team. (Before the Marlins, she was an assistant GM at the Yankees and the Dodgers.) In 2025, she signed on as the AUSL’s first commissioner.
We caught up recently as she was getting ready for this pivotal moment. The sport’s second season kicked off with some new investors—Milwaukee Brewers chairman and owner Mark Attansio and execs from the Minor League Baseball ownership group Ryan Sanders Baseball. The Brewers are the first MLB club to invest directly in the AUSL.
