Hope & Worry for Women’s Pro Baseball League

Here’s Brody Brazil. If you’ve got something to share with this YouTube channel, phone it in right now at 8334 Brody. Could be a question, a comment, a compliment, or any type of contribution. I literally listen to every single message you leave, and then I get to play back and respond to the very best ones. Hello, this is Joseph. I’m calling from Daily City, California. All right. I’m calling to get your thoughts on the new women’s baseball league that was just announced, the four city league, including New York, LA, and San Francisco. I’m calling to see how you would ensure that that league is successful because in all honesty, representation like that can only be beneficial for not just females in the sporting world, but just the sporting world as a whole. So, if possible, I just want to hear your opinions on the league itself and how to make sure that enough eyes are on it for it to be a success. Thanks, Brody. Joseph, I appreciate the call. You’re right around the corner from me here in the Bay Area. I’ve got two main things about this new professional baseball league for women. Uh, number one is that I’m I’m curious about how it might go. Like, there’s a lot to handle when you’re starting something brand new and it’s just a lot of undertaking. The other part is I’m rooting for it. like even against any specific odds and the fact that the marketplace is so crowded right now with different sports and different leagues and trying new things and they don’t always last. I’m rooting for this to succeed. So curious and hopeful. That being said, I’ve got some hope and worry to share about the league. To your point, what should they do? What should they avoid for the best chance at success? I’ve got that in just a second. But first, I feel like I need to detail this. I’m not sure enough people are understanding what the Women’s Pro Baseball League is all about. They’re about to have their player draft next month in November of 2025. Games will begin in May of 2026, which I think is a good time. The weather’s better. School is generally getting out. If you start this in April, you’re just up against too many things with the baseball season also starting. You’re a little bit past the regular hockey and basketball seasons. Uh so you kind of have more of the sporting landscape to yourself in the month of May. It’s going to be a four team league as you mentioned with teams. Now I say located in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. I think for this initial season, they’re only going to use one or two venues. It’s going to be a neutral sight league because you know what? Those are great cities, but they’re far apart and traveling like that is not conducive to uh scheduling or costs or logistics or there’s a lot of reasons why that’s just really hard to pull off. So at first just one or two venues for the entire league for the entire season, but four teams. They’re going to play seven inning baseball games. The seasons are going to last seven weeks. So I think it’s like four weeks of regular season, one of an all-star type situation, and then two more weeks of playoffs. They’re going to have 15 player rosters. So not actually a super deep roster. They’re only going to play two games per week. Really, more like two games per weekend because I think it’s a Thursday through Saturday. So either you either play Thursday, Friday or Saturday. So only 60 total players to start with in this league. They’re going to use aluminum bats and the players are going to be paid by draft position. And look, with a startup like this, you can’t imagine that the compensation is going to be fair or great, but this is how things start and everybody’s got to have a little bit of buy in if they really want to make this succeed over the long term. This is just initially how they’re starting. Again, teams with city names but not really playing in those cities from my understanding. I don’t even know to this point if they have identified the main city that they’ll be playing all these games in or where you can watch or anything like that. Again, details to come. So, now I want to get to this part, the the hope and worry that I have for the Women’s Pro Baseball League. And again, I’ve said I’m curious about this and I’m hopeful for this, but I also have a little bit of worry in this as well, too. One of my main worries is that if we’re talking about the best participants, the best athletes for this women’s pro baseball league, I feel like softball has taken a lot of that market, maybe even away from women’s professional baseball because softball is so huge and the pipeline really is there for softball. And by the way, there is also an emerging softball league called Athletes Unlimited, which Major League Baseball had just recently invested in within the last year. And that’s going to be kicking off later this summer. More on that in just a second. I guess what I’m worried about is almost that softball has many of the right athletes and softball is just a little bit of a different variant. I mean, if you’re a softball player, could you play in the women’s pro baseball league? Of course. But even the pitching motion being underhand versus overhand or the dimensions of the field. And I do think that a lot of times it’s still harder to hit a softball based on the short distance between the pitching mound and home plate, like what 45 ft and how that ball is rising and how fast it’s going. Uh the point is is that these are similar enough sports, softball and baseball, but they’re different enough and to the point where some softball players have committed to saying, “Well, softball is my thing and I play softball and this is what I grew up on.” So, I don’t know if they’re going to have the transition enough for enough super talented women’s pro baseball players. Does that make sense? What I’m trying to say is that softball is its own thing with its own pipeline. It has taken away probably some of the best athletes for pro baseball contention on the women’s side. And I don’t know if baseball is really going to be able to showcase. I mean, 60 players, we’re not talking about 600, but again, I I worry that the the pipeline may not be there because of softball’s existence. and obviously softball’s existence with this brand new league. I do hope, let’s get to a positive side. I do hope that this league is going to make all their games super accessible. And take a page out of the Savannah Bananas book, take a page out of the PWHL’s book, the Professional Women’s Hockey League book, they put all of their games free on YouTube. Now, I get it. That’s not the best marketing strategy because what if a television partner would give you a certain amount of money to televise those games? problem is you’re then on a cable channel that people can’t find. They weren’t flipping past it. You’re off in obscurity. And if you’re trying to get your league to grow, it’s got to be in front of people who otherwise weren’t going to be finding it. So my point is the PWHL has done such a tremendous job by putting all of its games on YouTube. They have seen exponential growth because of that. Sure, you’re taking a hit on the TV revenue, but I mean at first when anything is starting, how much are you going to get now? The Savannah Bananas, they have taken some steps, right? But when they were starting and doing it for free, they were in the same spot. But you’ve seen how they’ve grown and now they’re adding the ESPN deal and the Fox deal on top of what they were already doing. They’re just a few steps ahead in the evolution here. But this is how you have to start it. I hope they’ll make all of their games free and easy right here on YouTube. I do think that’s the best strategy from the start. It also has to be well produced. It’s got to look like a professional major league quality broadcast. The PWHL does that. The Savannah Bananas do that. It can’t look like an amateur is doing it. It’s got to look prolevel and it’s got to be free here on YouTube. I also worry that they’re having these four teams and they’re attaching city identities to them, but they won’t be playing there. You know what I’m saying? like you’re trying to get people in San Francisco and Boston and LA and New York excited and then we we’ll come to find out that all the games are going to be I don’t know out east or out west or they can’t even do a split. Maybe half the league in the west for the first part and then half the games out in the east. I don’t know how they’re going to do this, but that’s a little bit of my worry is that sometimes if you bring a new team to a new city and they’re there, there’s a connection, there’s a bond, there’s a fan base that gets built. If they’re never actually playing in the city whose name they wear across their chest, it doesn’t have that connection. Now, again, that’s part of my hope here is that the league exists long enough. More on that in just a second. I also have the worry about the Athletes Unlimited softball league. That softball league has been going on for a while, but it just got an infusion of cash and involvement by Major League Baseball. They also recently signed an ESPN contract. So, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League is a couple steps ahead. And again, whether it’s the talent pipeline, whether it’s attention, whether it’s the synergy that they’ll have with Major League Baseball, I mean, the women’s pro baseball league should eventually be getting that same treatment. problem is they they they need to probably exist for long enough for baseball to attach itself. So the last thing here is that my hope is that the league lasts long enough, right, to bring these teams to their respective cities. I still think it’s hard, right? If you were an all East Coast League or an all West Coast league, you could keep your travel simple and logistical, eventually they’re going to have the problem of uhoh, we’ve got to fly entire teams from LA to New York to Boston to San Francisco. I mean, you can you can manipulate the schedule enough to minimize it, but at some point, like having these teams in the big markets, that’s a big way to go, but it’s also an expensive way to go. And we’ll see if they can eventually get those teams to those cities. If you last a year, if you last two years, and eventually the San Francisco team is playing in San Francisco. Now, what ballparks are we talking about? What’s the right size ballpark? Do you really want to put something brand new in a 35,000 seat stadium? I don’t know. There’s a lot to think about and consider here when it really comes to what’s next, but honestly, what’s first matters most and how this league launches. So, I’ll be paying attention in May. I’m sure I’ll do some breakdown videos once the league gets underway. But let me know your comments and thoughts down below in the comment section. Also, thumbs up while you’re there. Really appreciate your support. That helps me, this video, and this channel. And if you’re new here, make sure you tap that subscribe button because I would love to see you back here next time.

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The Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) is a future professional women’s baseball league in the United States. Co-founded by Justine Siegal and Keith Stein, the league is planned to commence play in 2026, with four teams competing in four cities across the United States. It will be the fifth American professional women’s baseball league, after the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943–1954), National Girls Baseball League (1944–1954), International Girls Baseball League (1952–1953), and Ladies League Baseball (1997–1998).

The league was founded in 2024 with an aim to elevate the visibility and proliferation of women’s baseball, by establishing a path to professionalism for college and amateur players. It has no association with Major League Baseball. Maybelle Blair, Cito Gaston, Digit Murphy, and Ayami Sato assisted in the league’s initial development. The league’s competitions, played during summer, will consist of a four-week regular season and two-week postseason, partitioned by an all-star game. Games will last seven innings, and be played with aluminium bats. Teams will consist of 15–25 players, and be restricted to a total salary cap of US$95,000. The league intends to broadcast its games on a national network, instead of on regional sports networks.

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34 comments

  2. Women's sports, basketball, hockey and SOFTBALL are heavily made up of gays who make no secret their hate of heterosexuals and the rest of the normal world. Straights are not welcome to participate as the case of Caitlin Clark is out in the open for all to see. I am not interested in this and the reality is hetero men and women are not either. The only reason the women's basketball league survives is because of bottomless subsidies from the NBA and ESPN. Now MLB is playing the white guilt sexual diversity game with softball. They are playing with fire and me and many others hope both of these leagues go down in flames. Heteros unite and stay away.

  3. Like Brodie and many others, super cheering for this league to suceed–against some formidable odds and some Catch 22 situations.
    The "pipeline" comments are crucial. Some history: Title IX passes around 1970 and women's sports develops at all school levels through the decade. However, the team sports focus was on basketball, soccer and softball; none on football, baseball and only later on (ice) hockey. So by the 80s you had developed enough female talent in basketball & soccer to start pro leagues. There were several stop/start efforts before the currently realtively successful leagues emerged in those sports.

    There were earlier attempts at pro softball but they largely failed. Some leagues fail becaue they try to be too big from the start–costs too much and talent is dispersed but you do get good attention. Softballs' mistake was the opposite, too few teams which makes it tough to get on the radar. The current MLB susidized softball league is run tournament style, similar to what the pro baseball league proposes–all the teams at one venue playing round robin then moving to the next location. Hard to get national attention that way.

    Footnote: the Taiwan pro baseball league have been using this model every effectively for decades and it works–probably needs to be studied–so if there are 6 teams in their league, your home team is on the road 5/6 of the time and then home for one long party.

    The pipeline problem prevents expansion as there just is not a pool of talent without youth development. Yes, softball is close enough that most skills translate. But if, and that's a big "if", the softball league expands, the skilled women would likely be more drawn to that. A case in point is women's (American) tackle football–forget the gimmicky Lingerie League. There are a number of supposedly pro leagues out there, although I doubt there are any $ in it. To be polite, the level of play is pretty bad. There is the odd running back here and there with a background in track but no real talent behind her. These leagues have been around for 20 years now and receive no attention whatsoever. Attendance is limited to family & friends–fine for NCAA Division III volleyball but not for a supposed pro league. This is undestandable. There is no youth program for girls in football. The fact that an occasional girl plays with boys and does excel is merely an exception.

    Today, a girl that watches a women's pro basketball, soccer or hockey game has the opportunity to explore her interests in school or at a community park–but not in baseball or football. Ideally, the league would invest in camps for young girls. Another footnote: while European football (soccer) has been successful for about 150 years, a key to that has always been their academy systems. All the teams house camps where they develop an internal pool of talent. It's like their farm system and is not to be confused with lower tiers of football leagues in each country which are not affiliated with the top league except for their relegation and promotion system.

    The video hits on another kind of Catch 22 problem; venues. The big markets represented byt original 4 named cities have either their MLB stadiums (no way playing in a cavernous park–certain failure) or feeble college and high school diamonds. Games should be played minor league or college wood bat league parks. These means wither exurbs or small towns but that may be the most realistic approach.

    Finally, aluminum bats!? really?

  5. Think it would be better that they pay historic tribute to their 1943 WWII inaugural counterparts by naming these four teams as the Kenosha Comets, Racine Belles, Rockford Peaches and South Bend Blue Sox… However this league may unfold, their 60 participants should remember that "There is no crying in baseball" …

  6. We had an athlete a while back who pitched left-handed for her high school baseball team, but threw right-handed in softball and water polo. She was ambidextrous, but just developed muscle memory for different things – e.g. wrote left-handed, used right-handed scissors, etc. We asked how it was that she threw a baseball lefty but a softball and water polo righty, and she explained that the smaller ball just felt right in her left hand.

    Fast forward to this, and I wish she was still playing: she could be a switch pitcher in women's professional baseball!

  7. Honestly, I have no idea how that league will last. It only has 4 teams. Usually, I see leagues starting out with 8. Like the UFL. But who knows how long that will last. It had to change some of its teams already. And I hardly see anybody in the stands. A d the ratings? I'm just surprised it lasted this long. The NHL started out with 6. But that was over a century ago. And it's lasted many years. And so hasn't the NBA, NFL, and MLB with the teams they started with. And they were successful. They merged with other leagues and became the sport they are today with 30 and 32 teams. It's hard to say how successful a league will be. Start out small. Grow a fan base. Hope people come to see your games. But I don't know if teams is enough to get people's interest. I say 8. I don't know if there is another women's baseball league they can merge with, but it would be nice if they do get some success.

  9. Didn't know women played baseball (not softball) at any level. There's almost zero interest in this I'm sure. They will prob want equal pay in 2 years too playing a short season, 7 inn games too. I can see it now. Unless your daughter or sister plays, why would anyone want to watch an inferior product?

  11. Main thing is the players

    Need to act like the Womens Hockey players

    And not the Women's Basketball players

    The hockey women are grateful to play and don't attack / Hate Men

    Meanwhile the WNBA Crys that they don't get paid the same as men when there no were close to the same revenues as the NBA

    Plus they attack NBA Players and act like there better then them 🤦

  14. 4 teams is not enough, even worse, 2 way in the east the other 2 way in the west makes travel a problem. They need more teams in the centre, to make it more viable and have an east and a west division, the winner of these divisions play in the league championship.

  16. I wonder if women‘s leagues might benefit from choosing smaller markets to make sure they thrive. In cities like New York or Los Angeles, they might get lost in the shuffle among all the other and more established teams. Plus, such a short season might cause it to out of sight out of mind.

  17. Lets be honest. Baseball is a traditional sport, boring to many people (i vehemently dont share this view), and not watched by women. This is just yet another sports league for women pushed under the liberal World view only backed by others that feel they must or tbey may be called Conservative or misogynistic😱😱😱😱 so its doomed to fail as no one cares for yet again some barely talented women who have been gifted something theyll never learn to use. Oh and add in the fact theyll bitch about money constantly and act insanely narcissistic like w thr wnba freaks.

    But it sill get espn coverage or some other network as they always do and sports news coverage even though no one fucking cares.

    Forever propped up with millions that never turn into profit or self sustainability. Forever in the red.

    No pub, sports bar, place of work, on the bus, on the street literally anywhere there are humans have i ever heard someone talk about womens sports ever. Ever. There is no market. Its all fake for subpar female athletes ans dysgenic liberals to feel good. That's it.

  18. Agreed, I'm really interested in checking it out, but between time and money, I'm not keen on having to subscribe to Yet Another streaming service. YouTube would be my vote. Until the league is 'mainstream' enough, attending a game in person isn't a draw for me, but long term, yes, having "local" branded teams actually be local is important. The final reality is that the women's income needs to support them year around and not just be a hobby they add on to their day job.

  19. Not watching women's baseball. They tried this before, and it didn't work. Also if you want this to work it must be actual woman and not guys who think they are women.

  20. Since they will start in May, I think it would be good publicity for the league for the San Francisco team to play an exhibition against the Ballers at Ramondi park before the season started.

  21. As a WNBA fan since 2009, and a fan of women's sports in general, I'm all in for this. There's a lot of doom and gloom in the comments, stereotypes, and just insanely incorrect accusations by people who don't even watch women's sports. I can't wait for them to eat their words.

  23. We do something similar in Canada for men's and women's cricket, where our major professional leagues play in one city (in the past, it has been played in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), such as Brampton and King City, as well as just recently with Vancouver, British Columbia). However, that is only because Canada does not have enough cricket facilities to play in different cities. It is not ideal, and I am surprised that this professional women's baseball league will play in neutral venues, as I am sure there are enough baseball venues in the USA and Canada to play in different cities. I do know that former Toronto Blue Jays manager, Cito Gaston, and the owner of the baseball's Toronto Maple Leafs are both involved in this league.

  25. AUSL is announcing cities soon and they’ll actually play there (as well as a few barnstormer games in other cities) an ESPN AND ABC contract, and the MLB partnership. But honestly biggest asset of all has been Kim Ng leading things. She’s been an amazing 1st year commissioner that honestly other women leagues could learn from, without her I think the AUSL future might not be as secure.

  26. Old school baseball style. East is one "league." West is another. For the first 6 weeks, EC teams stay in the East. Whoever wins the season series will play the winner of the West League. That could either be at a neutral site or have the normal 7 game, 4/3 split.

  29. How does this even compete with the AUSL? Those games will be on ESPN, whether it's the app or a channel, and there's a guaranteed salary. Not to mention Brodie's point of there being a pipeline and familiarity with the sport.

  32. The success of the Pro Women's Hockey League can be attributed to the Players' Association writing, with the help of Deloite, their Collective Bargaining Agreement before finding a league owner. The CBA was on the league website and addressed the issues of the previous failed attempts of pro leagues.

  33. Let's be real! Youtube Brody Brazil, underhand softball, liv golf, darts, chess, and cornhole on ESPN the ocho will be more interesting and entertaining than watching a woman's professional baseball league playing on a neutral site aluminum bats. My bet is they're not going to even make it too their first.All star game before they fold. 😂😂😂😂

  34. WHAT CAN HELP THIS LEAGUE MAKE IT LONG-TERM?

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