YORKTON - It looks like women baseball players are on the verge of having a league of their own.
Women’s pro sport leagues have made huge strides in recent years led by the success of basketball’s WNBA, the success of the PWHL which is about to embark on its second season soon, and the Northern Super League, a Canadian pro soccer loop launching in 2025.
Now the Women's Pro Baseball League (WPBL) has announced plans calling for inaugural season in the summer of 2026.
Women's baseball pioneer and WBSC Diversity & Inclusivity Commission member Justine Siegal teamed up with lawyer and businessman Keith Stein to co-found the league.
So did the success of other women’s sport leagues green-light the idea of a baseball league?
Stein told Yorkton This Week said it goes beyond just following the success of others, but having their road map to follow in some respects will help.
“The WNBA and other leagues have done a lot of the heavy lifting for us,” he said, but he sees the timing of a baseball league “as long overdue.”
Stein said baseball has always been foundational in terms of professional sports in the US.
“It’s been one of the major sport leagues from the get go,” he said, adding that has built wide familiarity with the sport, and that in turn “. . . creates a much clearer path to a broad recognition,” of a new league entity.
The initial announcement had the league launching with six teams clustered in the American Northeast for logistical reasons, but Stein said interest has been such that there may be eight teams in year one – a roster of franchises will emerge in the first half of 2025.
“It’s a good starting place for our league,” said Stein, adding they hold the vision of the league spreading across the continent in the years ahead, with “. . . a footprint similar to other leagues.”
Certainly interest exists, with Stein saying they have had 70 to 80 inquiries regarding potential team ownership.
While Stein in Canadian – he is CEO of the Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball team -- one of the oldest baseball organizations on the continent, and the team Babe Ruth hit his first pro home run off – a team in this country is not in the year one plans.
“We’d love to have a Toronto franchise, and there will be a Toronto franchise,” he said, adding fans are likely to have to wait at least a season, or two for that to transpire. “. . . There will be a Canadian franchise within the first five years.”
When the league is finalized and play begins in 2026 plans call for a season running May to August with roughly a 40-game season.
There hasn’t been a women’s pro baseball league – at least not one to my knowledge – since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley existing from 1943 to 1954. The 1993 movie A League of Their Own, directed by Penny Marshall and starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, and Madonna, was based on the league.
Stein said while the league may not be known by many today, it is part of the heritage they will follow.
“I think the important thing is to remember there was a league that once existed,” he offered, again noting baseball is one of the oldest sports in the US, and for years has been referred to as the nation’s pastime.
Unfortunately, about a century ago women were funnelled away from the game to play softball, said Stein, adding the new league will be something young players can aspire too.
“They should have a league of their own,” he said. “. . . For young athletes this will be something to shoot for.”
