Baseball trailblazer Justine Siegal announces launch of pro women’s baseball league

The GIST: Women keep stepping up to the plate in the baseball world, and it’s not just in MLB front offices. On Tuesday, the Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) announced its launch as the only professional women’s baseball league in the U.S. Batter up.

The details: Co-founded by women’s baseball trailblazer Justine Siegal, the WPBL plans to begin play in 2026 with six teams in the northeastern U.S. Siegal teamed up with Canadian businessman Keith Stein to launch the new league, which is already working on landing a national broadcasting deal ahead of its first season.

• “The Women’s Pro Baseball League is here for all the girls and women who dream of a place to showcase their talents and play the game they love,” Siegal said this week. “We have been waiting over 70 years for a professional baseball league we can call our own. Our time is now.”⁣ Mic drop.

The context: Women’s college baseball dates back to 1866, but gender-based bans — including a 40-year one by the MLB — stifled participation in the sport at the professional level. The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the mid–20th century (inspiration for the1992 film A League of Their Own) and players like Toni Stone remain exceptions as women were systematically excluded for the latter half of the century.

• Women and girls who wanted to play baseball were increasingly funneled into softball programs, although some have famously stuck with Little League like Mo’ne Davis and friend of The GIST Olivia Pichardo. According to Siegal’s nonprofit Baseball For All, over 100K girls currently play baseball across the U.S., yet only about 1K go on to play in high school.

The importance: Aside from what this means for women’s baseball players wanting to go pro, establishing a league presents an opportunity to engage with MLB’s 171.1M fans, of which nearly 40% are women. Stein noted that the WNBA and NWSL have recently cemented interest in pro women’s sports, which the WPBL believes will extend to baseball.

Looking ahead: Major players like Athletes Unlimited have been looking to capitalize on softball’s growing college and pro fandom, but women’s baseball is still swinging to catch up. At last, both sports may finally have sustainable women’s pro leagues, but only softball currently has a collegiate pipeline, so it will be interesting to see how the WPBL adapts and attracts talent.