The dominant pro fastpitch softball league in the country, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, will host its annual draft on Monday, May 4 at 7PM Eastern. The draft will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
Much of the AUSL draft’s process should be familiar to sports fans. There will be at least two rounds, the team with the worst record in the prior season selects first (that would be the Carolina Blaze), and last year’s champion, the Utah Talons, will pick last.
What is different about the AUSL’s draft process is the “golden ticket.” Golden tickets are presented to prescreened senior players who have the talent and have expressed interest in turning pro. Golden tickets are a guarantee that a player will be drafted in this year’s draft, and therefore a guarantee that the player receiving the ticket will be turning pro. The tickets are presented directly to the player on campus during a college game, and the AUSL has pulled in some serious star power to present the tickets.
For example, NFL legend and Texas Tech alum Patrick Mahomes presented the first golden ticket with a video message to Texas Tech pitcher and consensus first overall pick Nijaree Canady, softball legend Jenni Finch has presented golden tickets to Tennessee’s Karlyn Pickens and Arizona’s Sydney Stewart, and former Olympian Natasha Watley recently presented 3 tickets to UCLA seniors this week. And AUSL Commissioner (and former Major League Baseball general manager) Kim Ng has also handed out several golden tickets.
NCAA softball is wildly popular, but pro softball has struggled to get its footing. Pro softball needs to figure out a way to transition the fan base from college softball to pro softball, and issuing golden tickets to some of the sports brightest stars during college events are a fabulous strategy to try and make that happen. A spectacle moment with pomp and circumstance and Jennie Finch perfect for social media, showing the player in their college uniform while celebrating the next step in the pro league, and tangible token with the golden ticket confirming that the player is headed to the pros. I absolutely love this.
And, perhaps more importantly, the golden ticket process is also additional confirmation that the AUSL has some serious financial backers. I’m guessing that getting the NCAA to allow the AUSL to promote its league at established NCAA events was not cheap, nor was flying out former Olympians or video messages from Patrick Mahomes.
Fans and players alike have long dreamed of an established, well run, exciting pro fastpitch league, and it sure feels like we are finally on our way.
