Athletes Unlimited (also known by its

abbreviation An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening (linguistics), shortening, contraction (grammar), contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened for ...

AU) is a women's

professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger a ...

organization based in the United States that organizes and administers competitions in the sports of

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, and formerly

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

. It was founded in 2020 by

Jon Patricof Jon Patricof (born 1973) is an American businessman and former president of New York City FC. Before joining New York City FC, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of Tribeca Enterprises which oversees the Tribeca Film Festival, Tribeca ...

and

Jonathan Soros Jonathan Tivadar Soros (born September 10, 1970) is an American investor and businessman serving as co-founder and partner of One Madison Group, a private investment firm. He previously served as chief executive officer of JS Capital Management LL ...

. Athletes Unlimited leagues employ formats in which individual players are crowned champions, with the exception of the

Athletes Unlimited Softball League The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) is a women's professional softball league in the United States, founded in 2024 and run by Athletes Unlimited. History On June 4, 2024, Athletes Unlimited announced a new softball league, that w ...

, which has traditional

teams A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interd ...

History

Athletes Unlimited was founded by

and

in 2020.

Format

There are no team owners, and league investors are capping their returns. Athletes share in the league profits, and are involved in the daily decision making. Players are not committed to one team but switch teams every week of the season through a draft. The top four players who earned the most points each week become captains for the next week and form new teams. Players earn points based on both their team and individual performances, and are ranked accordingly. The champion is the player with the most points at the end of the season.

Leagues

Basketball

Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball is played annually during winter. Its first season featured 44 players competing in a five-week season from January 26 to February 26, 2022, and took place in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. The second season was played in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and ran from February 22 to March 26, 2023. The 2025 edition was held on February 5 – March 2 at the

Nashville Municipal Auditorium The Nashville Municipal Auditorium is an indoor sports and concert venue in Nashville, Tennessee. It opened October 7, 1962 with both an arena and exhibition hall. The former exhibition hall has been permanent home to the Musicians Hall of Fame ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. It featured forty players competing in 24 games – ten

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, and fourteen simultaneously livestreamed on both the

FanDuel Sports Network FanDuel Sports Network (formerly Bally Sports) is a group of regional sports networks in the United States owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group). The networks carry regional broadcasts of sporting events from various ...

and the WNBA's

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...

. It was won by

Maddy Siegrist Madison Siegrist (born May 22, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Villanova Wildcats of the Big East Conference and ...

, who set an all-time record of 7,052 points.

Softball

Athletes Unlimited Softball League

All-Star Cup and AUX

The AUSL All-Star Cup (formerly known as Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball) is played annually at the

Parkway Bank Sports Complex Parkway Bank Sports Complex, also known as the Ballpark at Rosemont, is an outdoor baseball park used for fastpitch softball and baseball located in the United States, American city of Rosemont, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It previously hoste ...

Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located immediately northwest of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the village had a population of 3,952. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before ...

over four weeks during summer. It is preceded by a two-week competition known as Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball AUX (stylized as "AUX"). The Cup's inaugural season was played from August 20 to September 28, 2020. Two games were played each Saturday, Sunday, and Monday over the five week period, 30 games all together (15 per player). The top four players were named the medalists and Haylie McCleney was named the Defensive Player of the Year. The inaugural AUX competition featured 42 athletes playing 18 games and took place from June 13 to 26, 2022, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of

Title IX Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receiv ...

on June 23. Danielle O'Toole won the inaugural AUX softball competition with 1,436 points.

Rachel Garcia Rachel Lauren Garcia (born March 30, 1997) is an American professional softball player for the Volts of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). She previously served as the pitching coach for UC San Diego. She played college softball for t ...

won the 2023 AUX competition with 1,392 points.

Bubba Nickles Madilyn "Bubba" Ida-Marie Nickles-Camarena (born March 8, 1998) is an American professional softball player for the Bandits of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). She played college softball for the UCLA Bruins, where she was named an ...

won the 2024 AUX competition with 1,344 points.

Volleyball

Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball is played annually during fall. Its inaugural season was played in 2021.

Defunct leagues

Lacrosse

Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse was played annually during summer, between 2021 and 2024. Michelle DeJulius, who had founded and was the CEO of the now defunct Women's Professional Lacrosse League was named the Senior Director of Lacrosse. Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse features a "short-form, fast-paced" format. It is played 10-a-side rather than 12-a-side. The field length is shorted to 90 yards as opposed to the traditional 110 yards. The field width remains at 60 yards. There is a 60-second shot clock, and layers can score two-point goals by scoring goals from outside of an 8-meter perimeter. The games are also 10-minute quarters. The game has also been described as more physical, with less fouls called compared to other levels of the game. There are also no shooting space calls (shooting space being a penalty where a defender cannot stand between the goal and a player looking to shoot unless actively guarding another player). The inaugural 2021 season took place from July 19 to August 22 in

Boyds, Maryland Boyds is an unincorporated community in exurban Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, located approximately north of Washington, D.C. Its ZIP Code is 20841. According to the United States 2020 Census, the ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) ...

at Maureen Hendricks Field. The 2022 season took place from July 21 to August 14 at William G. Tierney Field in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, and returned there for the 2023 season from July 20 to August 13. Goalie Taylor Moreno became the first player to win two Athletes Unlimited championships. After the conclusion of the 2024 season, Athletes Unlimited suspended its lacrosse operations, citing the "availability of the sport's most elite athletes during the summer months over the next few years" as its primary reason for doing so.

References

External links

* Athletes Unlimite
official website
* Athletes Unlimited Softball Leagu
official website
{{Volleyball in the United States Basketball competitions in the United States Lacrosse leagues in the United States Professional sports leagues in the United States Softball competitions in the United States Sports leagues established in 2020 Volleyball leagues in the United States Women's lacrosse in the United States Women's volleyball competitions