New Professional Softball League Starting

[The Man In Blue]

Lots of smoke and mirrors here ... The headline said compensation of over a million dollars makes it sound like salaries competitive with men's professional sports leagues. BUZZZ ... the total compensation for 56 players could reach a million dollars.

I get that the NPF lady has experience, but it strikes me as odd to being her in.

No professional league will succeed in one location. You need the tribal instincts of fans to root for teams. As @flash277 observed, it seems as if they are banking on fans of players rather than traditional sports psyche. So it's a 6-week all-star tournament.

I like that they are willing to try a non-traditional model, but I don't think this is the right one. Something like this needs to follow a "minor league" model of hosting teams in smaller cities that don't have other sports activities competing against them. Limiting travel costs is a factor, so using a regional model would be ideal.

For example, the Prospect League is a summer wooden-bat league for college baseball. They have an Eastern and Western division to limit travel, and then then the division champs play in the playoffs. The Western teams have mostly been in Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. The Eastern teams have been in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and possibly some other states. The goal is to have enough teams close enough to eliminate overnight travel, then bring the areas together in a limited capacity.

 

[Rick M]

Playing all the games in one place is no way to start a pro league. I wish they would take greater advantage of the existing softball infrastructure: there are at least 100 nice college stadiums all throughout the country, most of which have stands and concession areas and even broadcast capabilities. There's got to be some way to get those schools involved.

If there were a group of barnstorming teams that could play games against college teams, that would seem to be to everyone's benefit. Those teams and facilities are mostly dormant from Memorial Day to Labor Day, why not try to put some fannies in the seats? They even have on-campus housing to offset the costs of traveling around. If two teams traveled together, they could play exhibition games against the host team, and then play each other in a few games that "count" towards some standings. Sell a ticket package that includes a skills clinic for young players to get on the field with the pros.

While I like the outside-the-box thinking of featuring the players and redrafting teams, it ignores where the real money comes from in professional sports:

 

[JayW]

Looks like the first season exceeded the board’s expectations.

 

[JayW]

Also, looks like another starting up.

Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF) league to debut in 2022 — Justin's World of Softball

The new league will play a two-month season, from June to August 2022, and will be headquartered in Oklahoma City.

justinsworldsb.com