Front Office Sports Reports WPBL Inaugural Season Ticketed for Springfield, Illinois

Team expansion and developmental league planned for 2027

In a breaking news exclusive from Front Office Sports, this morning we learned the Women’s Pro Baseball League’s inaugural season will take place in Springfield, Illinois at Robin Roberts Stadium. The season will begin in August – not May¹, as previously mentioned – and will also feature “barnstorming games” in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

From Annie Costabile at Front Office Sports:

[The league] evaluated 200 venues across the country in search of a stadium for the inaugural season. [WPBL co-founder Keith] Stein said they had 10 offers, but most of them included shared facilities. At Robin Roberts Stadium—which has a capacity of 5,200—the players will have ownership of the space from the time the league moves in until the season concludes, which was a priority.

Costabile’s article features a number of brand new details, including information on funding, a new partnership with Golden Rule Entertainment (who owns Robin Roberts Stadium), and quotes from Stein on today’s announcement. Don’t forget to check out the full story.

Steve Shook from Moscow, Idaho, USA, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Personally, this is not what I was expecting.² When the league made the big announcement of their first four cities in four major markets, my best guess was they were abandoning the original plan to play the entire season at one or two neutral sites. A tour of San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Boston – perhaps everyone playing a week in each city, even if they didn’t operate as traditional home-and-away destinations – seemed like a probable pivot. Instead, the entire season will take place in the Midwest as the league works to finalize the aforementioned barnstorming opportunities on each coast.

Selfishly, I’m ecstatic to be able to drive to see the first pitch of the WPBL. Stephanie and I were planning to take some time off for the Women’s Baseball World Cup and the AAGPBL Reunion in July 2026, and after today’s announcement we’ll probably look to extend our trip to include the first WPBL games as well. I previously wrote about my disappointment in the lack of Midwest representation following the city announcement, but now I imagine there’s disappointment going in the other direction from women’s sports fans on the coasts.

The plan makes logical sense: start at a neutral site, get your feet under you, and then move into the major markets as interest grows and (hopefully) the dollars roll in. If the Springfield news came first and the city announcement happened later, I don’t think many people would bat an eye. But the way in which this plan was marketed to the public will inevitably lead to confusion amongst the common sports fan. I feel for the Angeleno who read the city announcement headline on ESPN and thought they’d be able to see the LA team play in LA next year, for example.

In the league’s defense, I don’t recall seeing any promotion on social media saying “we are coming to play in New York,” nor has there been any change to the “neutral site” verbiage on the FAQ page this whole time. The messaging just feels disjointed as the hype train continues to steamroll forward. It will be paramount that the league make these games accessible to watch at home by everyone in the country and around the world, either for free on YouTube with ads, front-and-center on a popular sports TV network, or another solution.

Florida Memory, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Springfield news aside, there are some other important nuggets sprinkled in today’s announcement. As mentioned above, the WPBL will be the only occupants of Robin Roberts Stadium for the duration of their stay. This is something the league prioritized and I’m happy for it. I hope they use this uninterrupted opportunity to deck out the stadium in team and league branding to really make fans feel like they’re at a women’s pro baseball game. I hate when I go to Chicago Sky home games and everywhere I look are DePaul University signs, with a few banners of Angel Reese haphazardly displayed here and there.

Costabile’s article says the league “will expand to six [teams] in 2027.” It also reports Golden Rule Entertainment is planning on “launching and managing a developmental league” in 2027 as well. Over 600 women tried out for the WPBL and 120 will be drafted on Thursday night, but the number who will see playing time during the inaugural season is closer to 60. A development team or league to help continue the pipeline of baseball-playing opportunities for girls from Little League to the WPBL is a great idea.

The Springfield Sallies joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the 1948 season. 78 years later, the first pitch in WPBL history will be thrown less than five miles from the former home of the Sallies. I think that’s pretty cool.

1. Among my many thoughts on today’s news: how does the shifting timeline impact individual players? Hopefully everyone destined for the final rosters is still available to play in August.

2. My wife and I were literally just brainstorming our draft night snacks when the news dropped. San Francisco sourdough? New York cheesecake? Boston baked beans? We had yet to decide on our LA food.

We will now be getting Spring(field) rolls instead.