Milwaukee Brewers' owner makes investment into up-and-coming sports league

The creation of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) was announced on this exact date two years ago. The professional women's softball league then saw a highly successful inaugural season in 2025, and interest in the AUSL grew immensely. Led by commissioner Kim Ng, the former General Manager of the Miami Marlins, the AUSL was a four-team league in 2025, with a roaming schedule in which games were played in various cities throughout the United States.

However, in 2026, not only is the league expanding to six teams, but those teams will also have permanent home ballparks. The six teams for the upcoming season are the Chicago Bandits, Carolina Blaze, Portland Cascade, Oklahoma City Spark, Utah Talons, and Texas Volts. The Talons are the defending champions. It's safe to say interest is growing in the league.

Last year, Major League Baseball announced a "strategic partnership" with the league in late May, just before the start of the debut season. According to an article from Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com at the time of the announcement of said partnership, "the financial assistance from MLB will help the AUSL with league operational costs, and many areas of MLB’s business operations will engage with the AUSL, including collaborative sales and marketing efforts."

As momentum around the AUSL continues to build heading into their second season, interest from investors is also growing. Mark Attanasio is now one of those investors as news dropped earlier today that the Milwaukee Brewers' owner now has a stake in the AUSL.

Mark Attanasio makes investment into Athletes Unlimited Softball League

Joining Attanasio in his investment into the AUSL is Ryan Sanders Baseball -- an ownership group that has founded multiple minor league baseball teams including the Round Rock Express and Corpus Christi Hooks. The group was founded by Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan and former Houston Astros minority owner Don Sanders. Together, Attanasio and Ryan Sanders' investment will allow the AUSL to continue to expand and grow, giving more support to the growing world of women's sports.

Attanasio, meanwhile, continues to expand his portfolio, which obviously includes a majority stake in the Brewers' organization as well as a majority stake in Norwich City -- a soccer club in Great Britain. Attanasio is also a part-owner of the Milwaukee Admirals -- Milwaukee's minor league hockey team.

It's bound to be a busy year for Attanasio, who also serves on MLB's Executive Council and is the chairman of the league's Investment Committee. With the ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations, Attanasio will not only be directly impacted by the result of said negotiations but will also be involved in them as well. The small-market Brewers are expected to be significantly impacted in some regard by the outcome of MLB's labor battle, and it could reshape Attanasio's financial strategy with the big-league club.

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