AUSL Shatters Attendance and Viewership Records in Inaugural Season
Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) in its inaugural season, took the softball world by storm.
Athletes Unlimited has sponsored softball as one of its pro sport offerings since 2020, but this was the first year of a traditional league and team format, a departure from their individual champion and innovative scoring.
In the first year of AUSL, the league was able to sell out 14 of its first 29 games including the season opener in Rosemont, Ill., which saw the Bandits’ 3-1 victory over the Talons in front of an announced crowd of 2,013 at the Stadium at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex, as well as the season opener in Wichita, Kan.
The league notched a total of 20 sold out games in year one.
TWENTY GAMES‼️
— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) July 30, 2025
What a debut for AUSL's inaugural season! pic.twitter.com/7kOiOAQ35N
The league set a record in July for the largest crowd when the July 19 matchup between the Bandits and Volts at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas, was played in front of 6,500 people, the largest softball crowd in Texas history.
Y’ALL BROKE THE RECORD, AGAIN 🥳
— AUSL (@theAUSLofficial) July 20, 2025
over 6500 people are in attendance at today’s game between the Volts and Bandits in Round Rock, TX! pic.twitter.com/CXs2uOmLg6
Record Breaking by the Numbers
In comparison to its previous iterations and years of softball, AUSL increased its overall viewership by 88 percent this season across ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU. Although the league still failed to eclipse an average of 150,000 viewers per game, the championship series, July 26-27, posted some encouraging figures.
Game 1 of the AUSL Championship Series averaged 187,000 viewers on ESPN, while Game 2 averaged 263,000 viewers for the network. Game 2 would’ve been higher if not for a rain delay, as before the stoppage, Game 2 was averaging 347,000 viewers on ESPN.
In addition to viewership, AUSL also saw their social media presence explode during the season. The AUSL website accrued 5.4 million visitors over the course of the season, as well as an additional 452,280 followers. This lead to 240 million social media impressions for the league.
The league also broke the $1 million ceiling on merchandise for the year.
A historic season for our sport and this is only the beginning! 📈🥎 pic.twitter.com/f7CuXbnWEM
— AUSL (@theAUSLofficial) July 30, 2025
According to co-founder and CEO Jon Patricof, he is extremely proud of what the league did in year one.
"This is an incredible sport with incredible fans and incredible players, and we are just so proud to be the organization that’s been able to create the platform that brings it all together," he said. "The launch of the AUSL, it’s been nothing short of remarkable.”
Athletes Unlimited will now switch gears for the All-Star Cup, which will see 60 athletes (many who played in AUSL) compete for the individual dynamic scoring title.
The All-Star Cup will begin on August 2.
Allison Smith is an expert in leadership and organizational behavior in collegiate and professional women’s sports. Smith is a professor (Georgia State University), researcher, and writer. Smith holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Kinesiology and Sport Studies. Smith’s research centers on combatting the underrepresentation of women leaders in sport, lack of organizational structure for work life integration for sport employees, and lack of programming and oversight for preparing athletes to transition to life after sport. Since graduating with a bachelor’s in journalism in 2011, Smith has sought opportunities to write about sports as a contributing writer focused on the growth of women’s collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports in this new age and movement for multiple outlets including Athletic Director U, and now Forbes.com. As a former Division I and II pitcher and Division III pitching coach Smith will bring unique insight and expertise to Softball on SI.
Follow allisonbsmith15