MLB Partners with Athletes Unlimited to Elevate Women's Softball

Major League Baseball (MLB) is stepping into the spotlight of women's professional sports with a strategic partnership that promises to reshape the landscape of softball.

This collaboration with the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL), featuring top-tier softball talent from across the United States, will bring live games to fans in Rosemont, a suburb of Chicago, this summer.

Founded in 2020, Athletes Unlimited has quickly gained traction in the sports community.

"It is just so fast-paced. It is action-packed," remarked Kim Ng, the newly appointed commissioner of AUSL. "The athletes are incredible."

With MLB's recent announcement, the AUSL is poised for significant growth. The league will benefit from MLB's broadcasting capabilities, marketing expertise, and financial backing.

"It's a day that I personally had been waiting for, for a long time," Ng expressed, reflecting on the importance of this moment for women's sports.

Ng's journey to this role is rooted in her deep connection to softball. A former high school player and University of Chicago alumna, she played as a middle infielder while pursuing a degree in public policy.

After graduating in 1990, Ng began her career in Chicago, interning with the Chicago White Sox before securing a full-time position there for six years.

"I was an intern for the Chicago White Sox, and then I became full-time," Ng recalled. "I was there for six years."

Her tenure with MLB spanned a decade, during which she rose to assistant director of baseball operations with the White Sox in 1995 and later joined the New York Yankees as assistant general manager under Brian Cashman in 1998. Ng also held executive roles with the Los Angeles Dodgers and within MLB offices before becoming general manager of the Miami Marlins in 2020.

Now, she returns to her roots in softball.

"Our spring training just started yesterday," she noted, signaling the excitement surrounding the upcoming season.

The AUSL season kicks off on June 7 in Rosemont, featuring four teams competing in 24 games over two months—an initiative aimed at bringing professional softball into the limelight.

"I think it's such an incredible statement for the sport," Ng concluded, emphasizing the significance of this partnership for the future of women's athletics.