Hot off the press

The GIST: Athletes Unlimited (AU) just recruited a major heavy-hitter to headline their brand-new softball league: MLB front office veteran Kim Ng. The longtime baseball exec and first-ever female MLB general manager (GM) is now joining the Athletes Unlimited roster as a senior advisor to oversee the development of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). Good eye.

The details: Ng will use her pro baseball expertise to develop the traditional-style softball league, which will field four teams playing a 30-game season (60 total games for the league) in 2025. This format is notably different from AU’s usual fantasy-forward approach to its four sports, most of which features a month-long tournament-style competition with rotating rosters and one individual champion.

• The plan is that Ng will work closely with AU CEO Jon Patricof and the SVP and director of softball Cheri Kempf. Teamwork makes the dream work.

The resume: Ng first made history in 1998 when she became the youngest assistant general manager (AGM) for the NY Yankees, where she won three World Series rings. After spending 21 years across three MLB front offices, Ng became an MLB SVP in 2011. In 2020, she took up the GM mantle with the Miami Marlins before leaving her contract early in 2023.

• Ng also has a connection to softball, a sport she played at the University of Chicago while earning her public policy degree.

• Then, during her time at MLB, she served as the league’s representative on the USA Softball board where she worked with former and current Team USA softball players to grow the game at a grassroots level. A real utility player.

Zooming out: Softball is on the rise(ball). Just last month, the 2024 Women’s College World Series drew a record 2M average viewers, up 24% YoY. Three weeks earlier, AU invested in a five-year stadium lease to keep its Pro Softball tourney in its Chicago home, then announced AUSL on June 4th.

• Considering the traditional-style league is new territory for AU, it makes sense to tap someone who knows the game at the player and exec level.

• When explaining her decision, Ng paraphrased the popular “it’s a movement, not a moment” tagline that’s been consistently applied to women’s sports. It speaks volumes that a seasoned sports exec isn’t only focused on women’s sports in general but on specifically building this new league.

The GIST: Despite the rising popularity of women’s soccer in the U.K., the standing of Reading FC Women has dipped from bad to worse. Per SportsPro Media, the team, which played in the second-tier Women’s Championship (WC) last season, recently applied for fifth-tier status as finances have rendered the club unable to meet WC’s compliance requirements.

• For context, Reading played on the top-tier Women’s Super League (WSL) pitch just 13 months ago and finished in the top half of the 2019–20 WSL table before a quick and painful fall to the fifth tier — a regional league in southern England. Ouch.

The details: Reading officially announced their withdrawal from the WC on Sunday — which England’s Football Association has already approved — meaning the division will operate with 11 teams rather than 12 next season.

• Of note, 2024–25 will be the first season under the newly created NewCo organization, which will govern the U.K.’s top two women’s soccer flights: the WSL and the WC.

• The club will now miss out on the benefits to come with NewCo, including a 25% share of pooled commercial revenue.

The club: Reading was established in 1871, although the women’s side didn’t launch until 2006. The club joined the top flight WSL in 2016 and “[punched] above their weight” for several years before being relegated to the WC for the 2022–23 season.

• Former Reading captain Kelly Chambers was integral to the team’s WSL success as the director of women’s football from 2015 to 2023, when both she and longtime Reading coach Phil Cousins left the squad. End of an era.

The financial issues: Reading has been plagued with controversy under current owner Dai Yongge, a Chinese businessman who purchased the club in 2017. In January, an English Football League (EFL) statement said Yongge “is no longer in a position — or does not have the motivation — to support the club financially.” He was encouraged to either adequately fund the club or sell his majority share.

• Amidst their messy financials, the club is facing unpaid tax bills and over $242M in cumulative losses.

• Yongge put the club up for sale in March, but there haven’t been any takers. At one point, England national team stars and former Reading players Fran Kirby and Mary Earps were part of a group aligning to buy the team, but the deal ultimately fell through.

Lingering questions: The Reading problem brings up a bevy of questions, including whether or not the brother-sister format of many U.K. clubs is truly beneficial for women’s sports. There’s also a query around what brands and sponsors can do to hold ownership accountable, and if leagues should consider more rigorous vetting for ownership of women’s sports properties. Loads to think about.

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