Athletes Unlimited and Jessica Mendoza Make Their Big Pitch For Women's Softball

A new Athletes Unlimited softball league arrives this summer with the sport still on the rise and a surrounding campaign throwing hard for its success.

The multi-league mini-empire of women’s sports launched its self-contained version of softball in 2020, with captains picking different teams for each session and players earning points for their individual play. With former National Pro Fastpitch commissioner Cheri Kempf serving as AU’s vice president, games were typically played at AU’s home base in Rosemont, Illinois, though AU softball went to California for its similar AUX Softball series and traveled to North Carolina to play at the Little League Softball World Series.

Last year, however, Athletes Unlimited announced its plans to form an Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) with four fixed teams playing 30-game seasons—or 60 games in all. AU brought former Miami Marlins GM Kim Ng as an advisor and surrounded her with a team of advisors that included ESPN announcer, Olympic gold medalist, and former New York Mets executive Jessica Mendoza; Olympic gold medalist and former AU pitcher Cat Osterman; Olympic gold medalist and national champion Natasha Watley; and Olympic gold medalist and national champion Jennie Finch—whose name gave AU’s softball stadium in Rosemont its home address on Jennie Finch Way.

Working with the executive committee of active AU softball players that make decisions on league business from rules to benefits, including child care, the advisors provided input that helped AU partners, including Chicago-based Dame Creative, DK Films, and director Quinn Murphy, put together the softball-focused campaign, titled “This is Legendary.”

With a voiceover by Mendoza and cameos from Watley and Osterman (who also serves as a team general manager), the spot introduces Maya Brady and Montana Fouts of the Talons; Sis Bates and Amanda Lorenz of the Volts; Skylar Wallace and Odicci Alexander of the Bandits; and Aliyah Andrews and Aleshia Ocasio of the Blaze.

“The goal was to create a visual representation that really shows how we’re envisioning this league to come to life, and I’m really hopeful that when fans see this, they get that excitement,” said Allie Kleva, AU’s chief growth officer. “I don’t think softball has been given this treatment before. There’s a cool factor to this spot, and that’s what we’re really trying to achieve, to get people excited and energized by it.”

The commercial debuted this morning on ESPN and will run in multiple versions this spring and summer across ESPN networks. ESPN has signed on to carry 33 AUSL matchups across multiple platforms, including 30 on linear television.

“We wanted to create a campaign that captured the energy of not just the athletes and the game, but this moment for pro softball and women’s sports,” added Susan Betteridge, chief creative officer and partner at Dame Creative.

A momentum changer

For 2025, the AUSL will tour the country and play games in Wichita, Kansas; Round Rock, Texas; Salt Lake City; Sulphur, Louisiana; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Omaha, Nebraska; and Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the AUSL Championship. The old Athletes Unlimited softball format turns into the AUSL All-Star Cup played in Rosemont, at the Little League Softball World Series (with Dick’s Sporting Goods as a sponsor), and in Raleigh, N.C., in August. 

The AUSL will follow up the campaign by going on a promotional tour of the season’s host cities (sponsored by the U.S. Air Force), with the first stops this week in Omaha and Tuscaloosa. Before the AUSL becomes a city-based league in 2026, AU sees an opportunity to build on softball’s momentum heading into college softball’s postseason and the Women’s College Softball World Series in May. 

Last year, ESPN noted that softball had its most-watched regular season since 2015, with an average of 2 million viewers comprising the World Series’ largest audience ever.

“The stars are aligning for softball to really position it as having its moment as the next big women’s professional sports league,” Kleva said, noting the momentum around women’s sports overall and the increased broadcast support for it. “You have softball, which is a huge participatory sport on the youth level and carries an incredible fandom across college, and what we’re seeing on ESPN year over year is that the College World Series is outperforming itself across platforms and there is a large, rabid, and excited audience around college softball that, frankly, has nowhere to go after the World Series is over.”

CREDITS

Athletes Unlimited

• CEO and Co-Founder – Jon Patricof
• Chief Growth Officer – Allie Kleva
• Vice President, Marketing – Matt Biggers
• Creative Director – Andrew Schloss

Dame Creative

• Chief Creative Officer & Partner – Susan Betteridge
• President & Partner – Kate Black
• Director of Brand Operations –   Liz Rosenthal
• Associate Creative Director – Paul Montagne
• Michaela Pullara – Art Director

Dan Klein Films

• Director / Editor – Quinn Murphy
• Executive Producer – Dan Klein
• Producer – Jason Furrer
• Director of Photography – Steve McCord