College softball has been on the rise for a couple of years now, with 292,000 viewers per game. With the rising interest in college softball, the AUSL decided they needed to do something about it.
Investing in the Sport Itself
Athletes Unlimited has been known as an organization that promotes women’s professional sports. For a long time, they only did women’s basketball and volleyball, but in June of 2024, Athletes Unlimited decided to go all in on softball. This caught the attention of the MLB, and in May of 2025, the MLB decided to invest eight figures into the AUSL. This was the MLB’s first partnership with a professional women’s sport, and it took a lot of people by surprise.
First Round Picks
In round one, the very first overall pick was Lexi Kilfoyl from Oklahoma State. In Lexi’s 2024 college season, her ERA (earned run average) was 1.20. For example, if you’re a pitcher, if your ERA is 2.00 or 3.00, it’s considered good, but anything under 2.00 is considered excellent and strong. With these stats, it’s obvious she was the first-round pick for the Bandits. The next three picks for the draft were pitchers too; this just describes the absolute talent coming into the AUSL. In the 2026 draft, famous Karlyn Pickens went first round to Carolina Blaze. Karlyn Pickens is quite a famous name around Tennessee; Pickens is known for her insane throwing abilities. Pickens broke the record for the fastest recorded pitch, 77 miles per hour, surpassing it by only 2.4 miles. Not much later, Pickens broke her own record, throwing the next pitch at 79.4 miles per hour. In the 2026 draft, she was obviously the first pick. These famous athletes brought a lot of attention to the new pro league.
The Growing Viewer Rate
For a long time, women’s sports have not gotten the attention they deserve. The lowest viewer rate a women’s college softball game has ever had was 590,000 viewers. That may seem like a lot, but in the bigger perspective of things, it’s not high at all. Now these rates have climbed to over 3 million viewers. The most viewed college baseball game peaked at 3 million viewers. Women’s college softball having the same amount of viewers as a college baseball game is one huge step for women’s sports as a whole.
On the Rise
Women’s sports is a rapidly growing industry, and it’s about time that women get recognition for all the hard work and hours they put into their sports. The AUSL is a massive step and success for women’s sports, and it will only continue to grow.