Athletes Unlimited names Kim Ng as senior advisor to new softball league

The GIST: Athletes Unlimited (AU) just recruited a major heavy-hitter to headline their brand-new softball league: MLB front office veteran Kim Ng. The longtime baseball exec and first-ever female MLB general manager (GM) is now joining the Athletes Unlimited roster as a senior advisor to oversee the development of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). Good eye.

The details: Ng will use her pro baseball expertise to develop the traditional-style softball league, which will field four teams playing a 30-game season (60 total games for the league) in 2025. This format is notably different from AU’s usual fantasy-forward approach to its four sports, most of which features a month-long tournament-style competition with rotating rosters and one individual champion.

• The plan is that Ng will work closely with AU CEO Jon Patricof and the SVP and director of softball Cheri Kempf. Teamwork makes the dream work.

The resume: Ng first made history in 1998 when she became the youngest assistant general manager (AGM) for the NY Yankees, where she won three World Series rings. After spending 21 years across three MLB front offices, Ng became an MLB SVP in 2011. In 2020, she took up the GM mantle with the Miami Marlins before leaving her contract early in 2023.

• Ng also has a connection to softball, a sport she played at the University of Chicago while earning her public policy degree.

• Then, during her time at MLB, she served as the league’s representative on the USA Softball board where she worked with former and current Team USA softball players to grow the game at a grassroots level. A real utility player.

Zooming out: Softball is on the rise(ball). Just last month, the 2024 Women’s College World Series drew a record 2M average viewers, up 24% YoY. Three weeks earlier, AU invested in a five-year stadium lease to keep its Pro Softball tourney in its Chicago home, then announced AUSL on June 4th.

• Considering the traditional-style league is new territory for AU, it makes sense to tap someone who knows the game at the player and exec level.

• When explaining her decision, Ng paraphrased the popular “it’s a movement, not a moment” tagline that’s been consistently applied to women’s sports. It speaks volumes that a seasoned sports exec isn’t only focused on women’s sports in general but on specifically building this new league.