The 2025 Women’s College World Series (WCWS) quite literally lived up to its reputation as “The Greatest Show On Dirt.” This year’s WCWS was the most-watched NCAA Division I Women’s College World Series on record, which included the deciding game of the series between Texas and Texas Tech setting a new record as the most-watched NCAA softball game in history with 2.4M viewers. Combine the success of softball at the collegiate level with a growing momentum from the youth level all the way up to the pros, all the data suggests that softball is well on its way to becoming the next major women’s sport in the U.S.

This year, ratings were trending up across the entire NCAA Softball season, from the regular season through the Super Regionals and all the way through the WCWS. And fans didn’t just watch; they showed up. During the regular season, Stanford set a new all-time NCAA softball attendance record when 13,207 fans packed the stands for their game against Cal. In the postseason, crowds came out for the WCWS in Oklahoma City with multiple sessions setting new tournament attendance records.

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But the rise of softball isn’t limited to fan behavior; youth and grassroots participation in the sports is also trending up. In 2024, 9.2M people played softball in the U.S. It continues to be a top five sport for high school girls, with every U.S. state currently offering a state championship in fast-pitch softball.

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Despite this solid foundation though, the sport has long lacked a well-funded, stable professional league in the U.S. to provide a clear pathway for athletes beyond college. 

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That is, until now.

The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) is a new professional softball league that just officially launched in the U.S. The league represents a major leap forward for the sport, and is already seeing early success with sell-out crowds during Opening Weekend. Worth noting about AUSL: the league is not starting from scratch. Athletes Unlimited has operated a professional softball property since 2020, using a unique, gamified format to showcase top athletes and build a strong following. With the launch of AUSL, the organization is shifting to a traditional league model, bringing even more structure and sustainability to the sport.

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AUSL enters the market with several advantages. First of all, the league is building upon a longstanding media partnership with ESPN and will broadcast 40 games across the ESPN network. Perhaps most notably, Major League Baseball recently announced a significant 8-figure investment in the league. This partnership marks the first-of-its-kind between MLB and a professional women’s sports league and signals serious belief in softball’s growth potential, and the viability of AUSL. 

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Another important factor in softball’s upward trajectory? The sport is set to return to the LA28 Olympic Games. With its reinstatement on the global stage, softball will offer a full athlete pipeline: from youth leagues to the professional level to the Olympics.

In many ways, the current positioning and growth story of softball mirrors what we've seen in women's basketball over the past few years. For a long time, women’s basketball thrived at the collegiate level, with passionate fan bases around key programs and strong TV ratings during March Madness. However, the professional infrastructure to sustain that momentum lacked when it came to investment. Now what we’re seeing is that the consistent popularity of NCAA women’s basketball served as a catalyst, prompting greater marketing & media coverage, increased corporate sponsorships, and renewed investment in the WNBA and other pro pathways, like Unrivaled.

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Softball is now where basketball was just a few years ago. This is the moment that anyone thinking about investing in or sponsoring women’s softball should get in the game. The “greatest show on dirt” is entering a new era, and now is the time to pay attention to – and invest in women’s softball.

Caroline Fitzgerald is a contributing writer for TOGETHXR.com and a leading expert in women’s sports business and gender equity. A Sports Business Journal "2024 Power Player in Women's Sports," she covers the forces shaping the industry’s next era of growth.

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