Little League Softball World Series Sets New Viewership Record
On Sunday, a week-long celebration and tournament came to a close as the Mid-Atlantic Region (West Suburban LL, Penn.) won the 2025 Little League Softball World Series, 1-0.
Pennsylvania's own West Suburban LL are your 2025 Little League Softball World Series Champions! pic.twitter.com/h1nmR3jPiV
— Little League (@LittleLeague) August 10, 2025
This was the first time that a Pennsylvania team had made the championship game since 2018 and the first time Pennsylvania had won the Little League Softball World Series since 1978, a title more than 40 years in the making.
The final game of the tournament aired on ABC, while the consolation game aired on ESPN.
However, the entire seven days of the tournament saw ESPN host games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+, and ABC for the championship. Additionally, Disney+ streamed the games live as well.
This was the third year in a row that ABC aired the championship game.
Elite Softball Broadcasting Team
Thus, it comes as no surprise that with the extensive coverage that ESPN provided this year that new records were set.
This started with who ESPN brought in to broadcast and commentate on the games.
ESPN used Courtney Lyle, a well-known ESPN analyst and color commentator who has not only been on live broadcasts for the Women's College World Series, but Lyle has also provided extensive coverage of women's college volleyball, including the tournament and championship.
Here we gooooo @MicheleSmith32 @sportney_lyle @LLSBWorldSeries pic.twitter.com/kLLO9tZZNO
— Amanda Scarborough (@ascarborough) August 9, 2025
In addition to Lyle, Amanda Scarborough, Jenny Dalton-Hill, and Michele Smith were members of the broadcast team. Scarborough, an All-American pitcher from Texas A&M, has been a member of ESPN's softball crew for several years.
Dalton-Hill is not only a general manager with Athletes Unlimited Softball League, but also has served as a color commentator for several years in the NCAA Softball postseason.
Then there is Smith, who is a former Olympian and softball royalty. Smith has been a member of ESPN's team since 1995 and has worked the Women's College World Series for more than a decade alongside Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza, and Holly Rowe.
New Viewership Records
This past Sunday's @LLSBWorldSeries Championship game was the most-watched @LittleLeague softball game EVER! 🎉
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) August 12, 2025
🥎 1.44M avg. viewers (2.98M peak) pic.twitter.com/2Bs9gHFqzI
Again, based on the investment and extensive coverage provided, it is no surprise that the championship game for the Little League Softball World Series on Sunday, between the Mid-Atlantic Region and Central Region (Floyd Knob LL, Ind.), was the most-watched game in history.
The game saw an average viewership of 1.44 million, and that number peaked at 2.98 million. This was a 139 percent increase from the previous year's championship game, which was also hosted on ABC.
Furthermore, an encouraging number for ESPN was that the viewership for the entire tournament was up 66 percent year-to-year with an average audience of 347,000.
To provide context, the peak viewership for Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) in its inaugural season was 347,000.
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