As the inaugural season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) is approaching, the league launched the biggest marketing campaign in U.S. Softball history Tuesday morning. Titled “This is Legendary,” the campaign centers on advertising the debut of the new league.
Here, the commercial features eight players spanning the league’s four teams. The players featured were (team in parentheses):
- Pitcher Odicci Alexander and infielder Skylar Wallace (Bandits)
- Outfielder Aliyah Andrews and pitcher Aleshia Ocasio (Blaze)
- Utility Maya Brady and pitcher Montana Fouts (Talons)
- Infielder Sis Bates and Outfielder Amanda Lorenz (Volts)
What’s more, softball great and AUSL advisor Jessica Mendoza is the narrator as it speaks to the diversity of the league. The commercial also features fellow AUSL advisors Natasha Watley and Cat Osterman, who is the general manager of the Volts.
The commercial features a previously unseen space for the sport of softball. Below is the one-minute campaign as the AUSL joined forces with Dame Creative, DK Films and female director Quinn Murphy:
The spot was seen this morning on ESPN during the show First Take. It will run through AUSL markets and digital media across the U.S. all summer. Additionally, the AUSL will be heading on the road for a month-long pre-season tour, going to the cities where games will be take place this summer.
The “This Is Legendary Preseason Tour”presented by U.S. Air Force gets underway in Tuscaloosa and Omaha later this month. It will bring players to professional and college sporting contests and other community ventures in each of the nine-plus cities. All in all, softball will get a taste of what to expect this summer.
When Does the Athletes Unlimited Softball League Begin?
Opening Day is a doubleheader on June 7 at The Stadium At Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Illinois as the Talons face the Bandits. Game Two of the doubleheader will be at Wilkins Stadium in Wichita, Kansas as the Volts squares off against the Blaze.
Each team will play 24 games as the season concludes with the top two teams vying for the AUSL Championship. It will a best-of-three series to be held at the University of Alabama’s Rhoads Stadium from July 26-28.
At the conclusion of the AUSL Championship, 60 players will compete for an individual championship in the AUSL All-Star Cup. This is 24-game competition in August as a champion will be crowned. In partnership between the AUSL and ESPN, they will air 33 AUSL games in total solely on all platforms this year. 30 of those games will air on linear television. The AUSL will announce more broadcast partners and additional information closer to the start of the season.
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