Professional softball players have talked about forming a union in the past.
But according to three veteran players involved in the new unionization efforts, those conversations never really stuck. Nor did the leagues in which they took place.
Now, with more money flowing into the Athletes Unlimited Softball League amid MLB investment and spikes in attendance and viewership, those players tell Front Office Sports it’s time for players to have a seat at the table.
“If this is going to be a professional sport, we need to run it like all of the other sports,” infielder Tori Vidales tells FOS.
The AUSL completed its second season this summer. The WNBA Players Association formed in 1998 after its second season, while the NWSL Players Association was founded four years after the league’s first match. The PWHL Players Association began in 2023 alongside the new women’s hockey league.
The AUSL Players Association debuted on Oct. 13, saying it “will represent every player in the AUSL” and seek to sign a new collective bargaining agreement with the league before the start of next year’s season. The new group said that a “supermajority” of the league’s more than 100 players signed union cards.
“The AUSL is a top professional league that deserves a fully professional system in which the league and the players’ union come together at the bargaining table to negotiate a fair contract,” the players association said in a statement.
The league can now either voluntarily recognize the unit—which the players asked it to do on Oct. 13—or the players will have to hold another vote through a process with the National Labor Relations Board.
“We are reviewing the players’ request carefully and are in touch with the AUSLPA contact directly,” a spokesperson for the league told FOS. The spokesperson declined to say if the league is recognizing the union, but said AUSL “will have more to share soon.”
Athletes Unlimited has staged softball since 2020, but the current league, AUSL, began play in 2025. Its commissioner is Kim Ng, formerly MLB’s first woman general manager with the Marlins, and the league received an eight-figure investment from MLB last year.
Athletes Unlimited, which was founded by Jon Patricof and Jonathan Soros in 2020 and raised $30 million in 2022, also had lacrosse, basketball, and volleyball in its portfolio, but has trimmed or paused those sports as it’s gone all-in on softball. This summer, Athletes Unlimited CEO and cofounder Jon Patricof told Front Office Sports that the company is not ruling out bringing back basketball and volleyball, but is excited about softball’s growth. Game 1 of its championship series in July drew 732,000 viewers on ABC, a new record for professional softball.
“I think we can go toe-to-toe with almost any property that’s out there as a TV property,” Patricof said. “It’s existed at the college level, and now we’re just proving that that extends to the pro level, and there’s that much demand out there.”
What Do Players Want?
Unionization efforts ramped up this month, Vidales says, with players holding meetings, sending around a survey to gauge opinions, and sending out union cards.
Vidales says the goal is to represent all AUSL players—rookies coming off of high-profile college careers, veterans who have played in multiple leagues, and those who work multiple jobs to supplement their playing income.
AUSL players are paid across five tiers, which for the upcoming 2027 season range from $27,000 to $80,000. Those tiers have increased each season as the league has grown.
“Obivously pay is always something that unions will always talk about, but I think for us it’s just being able to get established now,” pitcher Keilani Ricketts Tumanuvao tells FOS. “We think it’s a good time to be able to establish it now moving forward as the league continues to grow.”
The players association is still finalizing its agenda to take into CBA negotiations, the three players tell FOS. Players currently only get their own healthcare premiums covered during the season. Year-round healthcare was a major topic in last year’s United Football League collective bargaining.
“I think what we really want to do is set the precedent for the future,” infielder Hannah Flippen tells FOS, “and get the ball rolling in that way, so that we are set up when it becomes necessary to really fight for something, negotiate something, that we’re ready to go.”
College to Pro
The new era of name, image, and likeness has increased earnings for college softball players before they turn pro, both through brand deals and direct payments from school.
Texas Tech ace Nijaree Canady, who earned more than $1 million annually as a Red Raider, had a brief contract holdout with the AUSL this summer, missing her team’s first two games. AUSL players cannot choose their teams and were assigned through a series of drafts; the league owns all of the teams and the games are played in six markets: Chicago, North Carolina, Portland, Oklahoma City, Utah, and Texas.
The top AUSL salary was only $75,000 last year, meaning Canady took a major pay cut after she graduated.
“We want to be ready for when those high-profile college players come into our league, and have some of the same things that they were getting in their college experience at the pro experience,” Flippen says. “Definitely trying to sway the curve a little bit and get it to where it’s not such a big drop off going from the college game into our pro league.”
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