Well that’s a wrap, the AUSL pro fastpitch softball season has now officially concluded with Bandits pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl crowned as the individual winner of the 2026 AUSL All-Star cup. During the tournament Kilfoyl went 3-1 with a 1.98 ERA and 12 strike outs in 17.2 innings, and took over the top spot in the final game of the tournament for a true storybook ending.
I’m interested in what the future is for the AUSL All-Star Cup. No other professional sport comes close to a month long all-star tournament, in fact the NFL just announced an end to their annual pro-bowl all star game. So my gut tells me the All-Star cup is not a long term thing—unless the fan support is strong. And on that note, I can tell you, anecdotally, that I drove by Parkway Bank Sports Complex while one of the All-Star Cup games was being played and the stadium looked packed, but I could not find any numbers on attendance or TV ratings or anything like that.
What I did find, moving on to discussing the performance of the AUSL overall this season, is that the AUSL regular season and playoffs did markedly better this year compared to last year. According to the CEO of the AUSL Jon Patricof, this year the AUSL featured 25 sold out games, AUSL merchandise sales were up 110% versus last year, the league’s social media accounts grew by 450,000 followers, and the league saw a 150% ratings increase in its games on ESPN, and averaged 732,000 viewers for the first game of the championship series on ABC.
The AUSL Commissioner has also hinted that there may be additional season games added in 2027 compared to the 25 games for each team this season. Overall 2026 was a great year for pro softball with marked improvements in many important metrics, and there is great momentum and an overall sense of optimism moving into 2027.
