AUSL viewership up, but still modest for ESPN

In its first season of a new format, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League is delivering some promising viewership numbers.

According to a report by Austin Karp in Sports Business Journal, AUSL viewership increased by 88% this season across ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, though the league still failed to eclipse an average of 150,000 viewers. However, the championship series last weekend posted some encouraging figures.

Saturday’s Game 1 of the AUSL Championship Series averaged 187,000 viewers on ESPN, while Game 2 averaged 263,000 viewers for the network on Sunday. Game 2 would’ve been higher, per Karp, if not for a rain delay. Prior to the stoppage, Game 2 was averaging 347,000 viewers on ESPN.

For comparison, TNT Sports’ new 3-on-3 women’s basketball league, Unrivaled, averaged 186,000 viewers across TNT and truTV during its first season. The NWSL, a more established women’s professional soccer league, averaged 175,000 viewers, a number which includes multiple broadcast network windows on ABC and CBS.

While AUSL is still looking to catch mainstream appeal, college softball has provided a proof of concept for the sport. In June, the Women’s College World Series set an all-time viewership record for softball on ESPN, averaging 2.4 million viewers for a Game 3 rubber-match between Texas Tech and Texas.

Professional softball still has a lot of ground to make up compared to the college game, which has had decades to establish itself. However, the growth should be encouraging for those at AUSL. There’s clearly an audience for softball, it’s just a matter of nurturing it.