The first season of a revamped Athletes Unlimited Softball League wrapped up with a two-game championship series over the weekend on ESPN that delivered the network its best Athletes Unlimited softball action since 2020. The AUSL Championship Series averaged 230,000 viewers for the two-game set on Saturday and Sunday. Game 2 was the leader with 263,000 viewers, and would have been higher if not for a rain delay. The first half of that game from 2:00-3:09pm ET averaged 347,000 viewers, and then there was a delay until 4:27pm. From then until the conclusion at 5:45pm, the broadcast averaged just 187,000 viewers. Meanwhile, Game 1 averaged 187,000 viewers. Those two games are the best and second-best Athletes Unlimited softball games on ESPN networks since 2020.
For the complete AUSL season across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, viewership jumped 88% from last year, but is still south of 150,000 viewers. For a comparison, Unrivaled, the startup women’s 3-on-3 basketball league, averaged 186,000 viewers across TNT and truTV over the winter, while the NWSL averaged 175,000 viewers in Year 1 of its media deal in 2024. For AUSL this season, female viewership was up 58%, while adults 18-34 was up 147%.
The series puts a bow on what was a strong year for AUSL, which also drew an eight-figure investment from MLB. This was the second season of an expanded media deal with ESPN for AUSL.
