Athletes Unlimited Softball League expands: Oklahoma Cith Sparks joins, Cascade revealed as newest team
Following a breakout inaugural season, fuelled by sellout crowds across the United States, record viewership and social engagement, and a strategic investment by Major League Baseball, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) has unveiled two new teams set to make their debut in the league in 2026.
AUSL has officially welcomed the Oklahoma City Spark into the league and revealed the identity of a second expansion team, Cascade. The Spark and Cascade will join the defending AUSL champions Talons, along with the Bandits, Blaze and Volts, to form a six-team league to compete next year.
As the home of the USA Softball Hall of Fame, the annual Women’s College World Series, and the designated site for softball during the LA28 Olympic Games, Oklahoma City has firmly established itself as the epicentre of the discipline in the United States.
“Building on the incredible momentum of our inaugural AUSL season, this is an exciting moment for the sport as we continue to grow this league,” said AUSL Commissioner Kim Ng. “The Oklahoma City Spark have built a strong foothold in a city with a storied softball history, and adding them to the AUSL along with the Cascade reflects the surging interest in professional softball and our commitment to expanding opportunities for players and fans across the country.”
“Oklahoma City is home to the greatest softball fans in the world and we want to be a part of any serious effort to continue growing the professional side of the game,” said Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt. “The AUSL is putting the right pieces in place to represent the next evolution of professional softball, and the Spark have worked hard to build that foundation in OKC. As the home of the Women’s College World Series and the 2028 Olympics, it makes sense for OKC, this team and this league to come together to take professional softball to the next level. I commend everyone involved for getting us to this day, and I’m excited to see where it leads.”
As the AUSL enters a new chapter with the addition of these two expansion teams, the league will host the AUSL Draft - a two-part draft event designed to support competitive balance and provide opportunity across the league - on December 1, 2025, at 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
The AUSL Draft event will lead off in its first half with an Expansion Draft, designed to help the Spark and the Cascade build a competitive foundation by selecting from unprotected players currently rostered with existing AUSL teams. The Blaze, Volts, Talons and Bandits will begin by protecting five players from their 2025 rosters and will add another protection for every subsequent round after the fifth. The Spark and Cascade can select up to eight players from the unprotected player pool in this draft.
The Allocation Draft will follow, opening opportunities for all six teams to select players who opt in for AUSL consideration, including athletes from the 2025 Reserve Pool and professional players from other independent teams and leagues around the world.
More details on the AUSL Draft structure can be found here.
Additional information about the upcoming AUSL season, including home cities for the Bandits, Blaze, Cascade, Talons and Volts as well as the game schedule and other details, will be announced in the coming months.