On Aug. 1, 99-year-old Maybelle Blair tossed the ceremonial first pitch to kick off the 2026 inaugural season of the Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL). A former professional player herself, Maybelle Blair pitched for the Peoria Redwings in the All-American Girls Baseball League (AAGBL), a league created in 1943 as a result of World War II. The AAGBL continued for over a decade, eventually shutting down in 1954, inspiring the legendary American film “A League of Their Own” that would air much later in 1992. Blair was made the Honorary Chair of the Advisory Board for the newly formed WPBL, and even serves as the league’s mascot.
The 2026 WPBL season, running from Aug. 1 to Sept. 22, featured four teams from powerhouse sports cities: Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Each game was held at a neutral site in Springfield, IL, and was hosted at Robin Roberts Stadium, which has a maximum capacity of 5,200 fans. Each team played fifteen regular season games across four weeks, just 30 games in total for the league’s regular season, in addition to a two-week postseason tournament.
The WPBL garnered worldwide interest from prospective players, with 600 athletes attending an open tryout in August 2025. Of the 600, 120 players were selected to enter the league’s draft, and they represented five countries: Canada, the Dominican Republic, Japan, the United States, and South Korea. Each team was given a $95,000 salary cap for the short season, with a player’s compensation determined by their pick in the draft. The four teams had active roster sizes of only fifteen players, which created an elite baseball environment, showcasing the world’s 60 best female players.
It is safe to say that the league took the world by storm. According to the league’s website, the WPBL gained nearly a million followers across various social media platforms from August 2025 to October 2026 and surpassed 140 million impressions on social media during the season. A whopping 57,794 tickets were sold during the 2026 season, with ticket purchases from fans across every U.S. state, in addition to a large number of international buyers. The league was also able to generate $1.84 million in brand-related revenue and brand partnerships.
On September 22, 2026, the Los Angeles Queens defeated the San Francisco Fireballs 2-0 for the league’s 2026 championship title in a dramatic game five, winner-take-all showdown. The Queens were propelled to a complete-game, shutout victory by Japanese pitcher Ayami Sato , who holds three Women’s Baseball World Cup MVP awards. Mo’ne Davis, a player from Philadelphia, was a member of the Queens championship team and totaled seven hits in the WPBL postseason. At the age of thirteen, Davis excelled as a pitcher, representing Philly as she heaved 70mph fastballs past opposing hitters in the 2014 Little League World Series. Davis quickly became a national star, garnering support from Michelle Obama, Kevin Durant, Mike Trout, and others, after becoming the first female pitcher to secure a win in the LLWS. The creation of the WPBL has allowed Davis, and others alike, to continue to pursue their baseball career beyond the youth levels. The WPBL gives young female athletes the opportunity to aspire to compete at the professional level, something that many female baseball players have been deprived of for over 70 years.
While the future of the WPBL is unclear, the recent growth of the WNBA suggests that sports fans across the country are getting behind women’s athletics. Cliff Corcoran, the women’s baseball correspondent for “The IX Sports,” (a media organization that covers solely women’s sports), suggests that the league could continue to grow in popularity if they bring these four teams in front of their hometown fans, rather than playing in Springfield. While it would not be cheap for these teams to travel across the country multiple times a season, ticket revenue and viewership could outweigh these costs. Regardless, there is no doubt that the growth of this league would facilitate the growth of women’s baseball, and hopefully encourage more young female athletes to seriously pursue the sport.
