On June 9, 2026, the first regular season game of the AUSL will be played in Salt Lake City, Utah.
This game marks the beginning of the second season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League after its debut in 2025. This league, backed by Major League Baseball, is composed of six teams that will play a 25-game regular season schedule from June 9-July 20.
The regular season will be followed by a best of three AUSL Championship and the AUSL All-Star Cup.
The six teams are the Chicago Bandits, the Carolina Blaze, the Portland Cascade, the Oklahoma City Spark, the Texas Volts, and last years’ champions, the Utah Talons.
Last year, several of the regular season games sold out, proving that professional softball is something that people want to see, and are willing to travel for.
Some players to keep an eye out for include the number one pick of the AUSL Expansion Draft, Maya Brady, the AUSL Rookie of the Year, Ana Gold, and the AUSL Defensive Player of the Year, Hannah Flippen.
Maya Brady, niece of Tom Brady and a current player for the Oklahoma City Spark, played shortstop at UCLA. She was the Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2023, and played in the World Championship for Team USA in 2024, where the USA won silver.
Ana Gold was an infielder at Duke during her collegiate years, and now plays for the Carolina Blaze. She has started the majority of games for Duke since she was a freshman, and became the first player at Duke to hit two grand slams in one game.
Hannah Flippen plays for the Utah Talons, and played softball for the University of Utah in college. There, she was the Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2016, and holds the record at the University of Utah for highest batting average.
Overall, professional softball has some fantastic athletes, enthusiastic fans, and is only gaining momentum in the sports world.
Be sure to check out some of the games this summer on ESPN, because professional softball isn’t going away any time soon.
