More on the WPBL City Reveal: Four Teams Confirmed, Branding Forthcoming

Thoughts on the Midwest and my early fandom choice

On Tuesday morning the Women’s Pro Baseball League announced the four cities/teams for Year 1, and I took an 8:00 am “lunch break” at work to type up my initial thoughts. In short: I was shocked at the bicoastal nature of the news, excited by the big swing the WPBL is taking, and curious about how some of these logistics are going to work.

After taking a few days to further collect my thoughts and feelings, I wanted to dive a bit deeper on the news.

Team Quantity and Branding

Early press releases for the league cited plans to launch with six teams in 2026. Tuesday’s announcement called San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Boston the “First Four” teams. Considering all that together, fans whose cities did not get picked might be wondering if a fifth and sixth team are on the horizon – maybe they’ll have more luck with the next reveal.

I reached out to WPBL PR Director Natalie Mikolich to help clarify. She confirmed the inaugural season will, in fact, only have four teams. I also asked if we’ll see team nicknames/additional team identity down the road, or if the WPBL will follow the Professional Women’s Hockey League example of just rolling with city names in the beginning.

“We will be doing a brand unveil for each team prior to [the first season],” Mikolich said via email.

Back when I thought teams might be branded without being tied to a location, I wrote a piece brainstorming a few names. Now that they actually have cities picked out I’d imagine the branding is more location-specific. I’m pumped to see what they come up with.

Disappointment in the Midwest

When excitement and speculation about the cities started heating up, I did not have any realistic hopes or dreams that there would be a team anywhere close to me. Yes, I thought a team in Rockford would be cool with the upgrades coming to Beyer Stadium, but everything I read up until that point exclusively mentioned the Northeast.

So when I saw California get two teams, I was honestly a little bummed at the middle of the country being left out – for now, at least. I hadn’t considered anywhere besides the East Coast an option until we already had the news in hand.

Pretty much every major news outlet that writes a story about the WPBL mentions A League of Their Own and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Understandably so. And where did Maybelle Blair, Jean Faut, and Dottie Kamenshek play ball? The Midwest, of course. It seems like an area that would be a great fit for a WPBL team given their deep, historical connection to the women’s game.

To be fair, women’s baseball fans in the Midwest will have plenty to do next summer. The AAGPBL Players Association is hosting their annual reunion in Rockford, Illinois from July 22nd to 26th¹. The International Women’s Baseball Center is hosting the group stage for the Women’s Baseball World Cup that same week. Baseball for All Nationals is in Rockford at the same time as well, although that event doesn’t really strike me as a spectator-vibe.

Who knows – the WNBA added two teams for their second season. Maybe if the WPBL is successful enough it will follow suit and expand to Chicago² before long, and the World Cup games and AAGPBL reunion are enough to tide us over in the meantime. Until then, my wife Stephanie and I will be tallying up our Southwest Rapid Rewards points and eagerly awaiting the schedule release.

Photo by Christopher Alvarenga on Unsplash

Early Pick for My Fandom

Shortly after the announcement, I was chatting with Kate Nowlin (who runs the great @wpblnews Instagram account) and she asked me what team I might support. I likely won’t pledge my allegiance to one of these franchises until after the draft – with no team to root for within driving distance, who is wearing the uniform is much more important to me than the team itself.

For example: Ashton Lansdell, Denae Benites, and Meggie Meidlinger are some of my personal favorites from our visit to Thunder Bay during the 2024 Women’s Baseball World Cup. Allie Bebbere, Lexi Hastings, and Micaela Minner are just a few early favorites amongst the many players whose stories I’ve gotten to know since the tryouts. If a team ends up with three or four of those players on their roster, there’s a good chance a shirt with their team logo ends up in my shopping cart.

wpbl_sf

A post shared by @wpbl_sf

Independent of the roster or coaching staff decisions – I probably lean San Francisco. Stephanie and I lived in the Bay Area from 2017 to 2020. She worked in San Francisco and I worked in Oakland. I have a lot of fond memories from my late twenties tied to that area and some of my dearest friends still live out there. It would be a real treat to visit them next year and watch these women play ball together.

And hey, depending on how loose the boundaries are for these city assignments, I hear there’s an underappreciated stadium in the East Bay with a ton of history that could easily be converted back to baseball… 👀

Nearly 47,000 fans cheer on their team at the last A’s game at the Oakland Coliseum on September 26th, 2024. Photo by Justin Jabs.

I kid. (Mostly.)

Further Reading

If you’re looking to read more thoughts and opinions on the city reveal, I’d recommend checking out towards a more perfect game: an unofficial wpbl blog by Mary Mustard.

I really enjoyed her most recent piece (linked below). In it, she discusses a potential missed opportunity with minor league baseball towns, the competition the league will face in these mega-markets, the lack of Canadian representation, and some interesting thoughts on the team color schemes.

The Women’s Professional Baseball League Will Have A Home.

Lots of great stuff in there, including things I hadn’t yet considered before reading her work. Check it out!

Where Will They Play?

We now know the cities that will represent the first four WPBL teams. The next question, among many, is where will they actually play? As I write this, the League FAQ site still reads: “The season will take place at one or two venues for the inaugural season. The location will be announced shortly.”

If I had to guess, the FAQ might just be a little out of date. It would be a little shocking in my opinion for the league to make a big announcement about these huge markets and not actually play a game in each city during their inaugural season. Governor Maura Healey of Massachusetts said in an Instagram Reel shared by the league: “I’m just really proud that Boston was announced as home to one of the women’s professional baseball teams.” It certainly feels like New Englanders, Angelenos, and so on will get to see their teams up close in person in 2026.

From Tuesday’s press release:

In 2026, the League will feature a regular season, playoffs and all-star competition which will be held at a neutral venue.

There are four weeks in the regular season – could we see all four teams stop and play a week in each city, showcase style? That would help keep travel costs down, certainly. The neutral venue mentioned above, is that for all of the games, or just the all-star competition? If the regular season and playoffs are on the coasts, then the all-star festivities could be a great way to get the Midwest involved. Or maybe they return to the location of the tryouts and continue their relationship with Nationals Park in Washington.

More to come. In the meantime, who are you thinking of rooting for?

1. Those interested in attending can get the ball rolling by becoming an associate member of the AAGPBL Players Association.

2. I’d love a team here in Milwaukee, but if the other teams are in LA, SF, NY, and Boston, then Chicago is probably the only Midwest city that has a chance.