The GIST

AUSL kicks off a historic softball marketing campaign as ESPN expands its reach

Yesterday, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) officially debuted its "This is Legendary" campaign ad, which the league describes as the largest marketing initiative for pro softball in the U.S. The star-studded spot will air across ESPN networks to promote the new league, which tips off June 7th.

March 26, 2025

Rebel Girls expands on AUSL partnership to reach Gen Alpha softball fans

🥎

Today, Rebel Girls (RG) — an empowerment brand geared toward young girls — expanded on its existing partnership with Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL), the pro women’s softball league beginning in June. RG hopes to connect tweens with the game by developing and distributing softball content through its new Rebel Girls Sport vertical.

March 05, 2025

SEC teams dominate the first two weeks of collegiate softball season

🥎

The road to the Women's College World Series runs through the Southeast

February 19, 2025

What we learned from week one of the softball season

🥎

The NCAA softball landscape has long been dominated by the same teams, with Oklahoma winning the last four titles and just 13 different squads claiming trophies since 1982. But if Week 1 is any indication, we just might be seeing an increase in parity. Here’s who’s knocking it out of the park with the first few games done and dusted.

February 12, 2025

Softball season is upon us, with familiar faces headlining the Nation’s top squads

🥎

There might still be snow outside your window and a chill in the air, but get your glove ready because softball season is almost here.

February 05, 2025

Women’s Professional Fastpitch players voice concerns over alleged breach of contract

🥎

As covered in yesterday’s episode of The GIST of It, the pro softball space has been thrown yet another curveball. Last week, several prominent pro softball players spoke out against subpar working conditions during the 2024 Women’s Professional Fastpitch (WPF) season, which they allege breach their signed contracts.

October 09, 2024

Amanda Lorenz wins fifth annual Athletes Unlimited softball title

🥎

More women’s sports, coming right up. After a down-to-the-wire, highlight reel–worthy championship weekend, Amanda Lorenz is your 2024 Athletes Unlimited (AU) softball winner, accumulating 1800 points to claim the fifth annual crown. Diamond’s gotta shine.

August 26, 2024

College

College softball’s popularity proves integral to pro league’s success

🥎

August 23, 2024

The fifth season of AU Pro Softball will reach its electrifying end on Sunday, when one of the country’s 60 best players will top the leaderboard to become the 2024 champion. From expansion to big-time investors, the league’s success reflects softball’s growth into mainstream sports culture — and much of that stems from the college game’s skyrocketing popularity.

Read Full Story

The GIST of It Podcast

Ep #454

It’s PWHL expansion time

April 24, 2025

Listen on Apple Music Listen on Spotify

It’s happening!

The PWHL is officially growing. Yesterday, the upstart pro women’s hockey league announced it’s expanding to Vancouver for the 2025-26 season, delighting local fans who turned out in massive numbers during the PWHL Takeover Tour’s stop in the city.

On this episode of The GIST of It, co-hosts Steph Rotz and Lauren Tuiskula dig into why Vancouver was chosen as the league’s first expansion team and what that means for the future of the PWHL. Let’s do that hockey.

This episode was brought to you by Amazon Business, the ultimate partner for smart business buying. Amazon Business offers a one-stop shop for all of your business needs, helping companies of all shapes and sizes simplify their purchasing process. Learn more by checking out business.amazon.com today.