National Pro Fastpitch

Commissioner’s Corner - So Long to 2017!

Nashville, TN - December 31, 2017) As we close the books on 2017, it’s important to take a glance back at what the year included. The NPF had a tremendous season in 2017, for many reasons.

Here are some of the big ones:

 •   148 games streamed live on a variety of platforms, led by NPFTV and including The Olympic Channel, MLB.com, and Flo Softball.

 •   A second year franchise, Scrap Yard Dawgs, won the Cowles Cup at the Championship Series, proving again, that new franchises can realistically compete in the league.

 •   Kelly Kretschman was awarded her third consecutive NPF Player of the Year.

 •   Monica Abbott, among other things, set a league record in being awarded her 4th Championship Series Most Valuable Player. In regular season play, she threw her 4th professional no-hitter.

 •   Eight players from Softball Australia competed together on the Chicago Bandits’ roster.

 •   For the first time in professional sports league history, a complete team from outside the contiguous United States, competed in regular season play.

 It is worth expanding on the topic of the last two points and the participation specifically of Australia and China. Why are international teams such as these supporting participation of their national teams inside the NPF? The answer is, the brass ring. Australia, China and more international teams, have realized over 10 years of non-Olympic inclusion and reduced or eliminated developmental funding, has led to noticeable suffering within the sport itself. That suffering has occurred specifically in the areas of elite development and overall participation numbers.

 Australia is a country with a deep reputation of success in women’s softball. They were on the medal stand in all 4 Olympic Games with 3 bronze and a silver. China, also with a heavy reputation of success is the country that competed in the gold medal game against the United States in the very first Olympic Games for softball in Atlanta in 1996.

 The way to rectify the problems of declining elite development and youth participation, is to make up lost ground in refining the development of the teams at the highest level. Fifty games in two and a half months against the best competition in the world, goes a long way in making great players realize their potentials. National television and internet presence in their respective countries places the sport of softball into everyday conversations. This will make players and the program overall, more noticeable and relevant in the respective countries and will, in turn, create the brass ring effect in providing young people something to reach for and dream of becoming. This will, in turn, affect youth participation in a positive manner.

 No one knows better than U.S. softball participants and our very broad fan base, how top level competition and broad based media coverage can elevate a sport in monstrous proportions.

 It is a brave and visionary move on the part of the leaders of both Australia and China along with their respective organizations and partners. But it is a move that can historically change the landscape not only for those particular countries, but for global softball development and participation. That’s a true game changer. That’s the big picture. We will continue to strive for global inclusion in the NPF. There is something special awaiting our game once that is completely executed.

In 2016, Craig Cress (Executive Director of USA Softball), and I stood at the podium at the NFCA Opening meeting separately, and said that we would do better together in ensuring NPF players the opportunity to compete for the United States. As a result, nearly half of the candidates invited to try out for USA Softball teams in 2018 are NPF players. There is still work to do on the collective co-existence of NPF and USA Softball, but everyone knows it makes sense. We will continue to work towards gold medals and professional careers that don’t include ultimatums and hard choices.

 Looking ahead…

 In 2018, National Pro Fastpitch will celebrate its 15th season. Here’s a little valuable perspective on 15 years as a professional league:

 •   NFL celebrated its 15th season in 1935

 •   NBA celebrated its 15th season in 1932

 •   MLB celebrated its 15th season in 1891

 •   The Women’s College World Series celebrated its 15th season in 1996. That year:  the Series was in its 3rd location in 15 years (Columbus, GA), with an uncertain future location; the NCAA bracket consisted of 32 total teams; and it was the first time ESPN had aired more than one championship game - that year they aired a total of four.

 All of those entities have come a long way. As a sidenote, 36 baseball teams went defunct in professional baseball since the beginning of the National League. Prior to that, 54 others came and went, making the casualties in professional baseball alone, a grand total of 90 teams. It’s easy, but shortsighted to only evaluate an entity once success is achieved.

What’s important to take away from the value of time spent in development is to note the contributing factors of success.

For our sport, there were three very significant factors:

 1.    Title IV was a game changer - legislated equality and funding.

 2.    The inclusion of softball into the “Olympic Sport” category in NCAA - changed funding levels and priority placement for facilities and media coverage.

 3.    Television coverage - would likely have never happened without the first two factors above, but is arguably the most significant of all in popularizing and mainstreaming the sport of softball.

 We can not change the need for time and maturity in the overall development of softball at the professional level, but we can speed up the process by paying attention. The league will grow again in 2018. With last week’s announcement of the addition of the Aussie Spirit as a complete competing team, the reach and priority of professional softball has been expanded. We will grow more in our coverage, our exposure and our partnerships.

 As always, there is much to do. As we put 2017 in the rear view mirror, there is reason for optimism in putting our eyes on the road ahead.  Professional softball is resilient, steady and headed for some amazing and incredible opportunities in the future. Stay tuned!

Nashville, TN - As we move through fall, we are hustling for 2018 planning. Many think that fall is an “off season” for the league, but much like skills training, the “off season” is the time you really make the biggest strides, in terms of what the “in season” will look like. So, there is still much to do in the planning to make 2018 the best season yet.

The fall is also a time to look back at the last season and note the accomplishments. For players and teams, those accomplishments were tracked throughout the season with success awarded during, or at the culmination of, the season. For the league, much of the tracking is legwork of tallying exposure counts and activation points for partners and sponsors…how that was done, what worked, what didn’t and what the improvements might be in the future both from a value and an activation standpoint. It is a time to reflect on all aspects of the business and competition of the NPF and plan for steady and continued growth.

I am proud of the NPF accomplishments of 2017. Six teams played nearly 150 games en route to crowning a first time Cowles Cup Champion. For the first time in the history of an American professional sports franchise, an affiliate team from outside the contiguous United States, participated in regular season competition. People from over 120 countries enjoyed live action through NPFTV, The Olympic Channel, Flo Softball, MLB.com and Facebook Live.

Sponsor Partnership increased from manufacturers and suppliers , to a first time multi level presence of non-endemic partners. Once again, a group of dedicated and committed owners paid players to play, and covered the vast expenses of team operations for the sake of securing the sport at this level for future generations. And finally and unsurprisingly, the talented athletes of the NPF did what they do best and did not disappoint with record setting spectacular performances day in and day out over an 81 day season. The following details a summary of the 2017 season accomplishments. Thanks to all who supported the league in 2017!  We are re-loading and preparing for a bigger and better 2018. STAY TUNED!

NPF - 2017 SEASON IN REVIEW SPONSOR ADDITIONS

•   2XU** •   Anderson* •   Blast** •   EyeBlack* •   Marucci* •   Park Planet •   SwingAway •   Vaultz •   Vigilance Group

*Indicates sponsor is also an Official Supplier **Indicates sponsor is an Exclusive Official Supplier

LEAGUE

1. Positive Growth of Website, Streaming and Social Media Interaction 

•   Website Traffic - +

•   Streaming (included NPFTV, mlb.com, FloSoftball, The Olympic Channel and    Facebook

•   Twitter - +

•   Facebook - +

•   Instagram - +

2. Burn the Ships Documentary Released - The documentary debuted at the Cleveland Film Festival where it won the Director’s Award and was subsequently picked up for national distribution.

3. Introduction of first ever fully owned and operated international team; Beijing Shougang Eagles was a cooperative effort between Beijing Shougang (sponsor) and the Chinese Softball Association. The team is currently working actively purchasing the NPF franchise and considering growth.

4. Increased international participation from Australia, with 8 players rostered on the Chicago Bandits. The league also rostered players from Canada and the Netherlands.

5.  NPFTV carried nearly 150 regular season games and the Championship Series in just its second year of existence. The digital platform generated nearly $50,000 in subscription revenue. Moreover, the platform increased its production quality and user friendliness and became an even stronger asset for the NPF in terms of marketing and transitioning for larger media involvement.

6. Championship Series in its first year in Baton Rouge, LA, hit some impressive numbers:

•   3rd all time Championship Series total attendance

•    2nd all time in Saturday attendance

•   First year location attendance bested Sulphur 2010, Chicago 2012 and Hoover 2014

7.  805 Stats, the official stat company of the NPF launched a new stats website and stats app and made many improvements to their live game viewing feature. In addition, they completed a nearly 2 year process of compiling data from 4 different stat programs to formulate all-time player statistics, records and league and team historical data.

8. NPF players of 3 different teams participated for the second year in a row at the MLB All-Star Game Fanfest activities, signing autographs, engaging fans in interactive games and taking photos.

9. With the addition of a partnership with The Vigilance Group, the NPF provided vigilance and self-defense training for nearly every player in the league. The specialized, focused training teaches women to avoid creating an opportunity to be a victim of sexual assault, abduction and murder and also how to physically protect themselves and escape a direct confrontation with a perpetrator.

TEAMS

1. New Ownership took on the franchise of the Chicago Bandits. The Village of Rosemont, owner of The Ballpark at Rosemont and The Dome at the Ballpark, became the franchisee of the Chicago Bandits. The addition of a municipality operating an NPF franchise will surely be a positive addition for future growth of the league and responsible team operations.

2.  USSSA Becomes WBSC Associate Member - announced in July, this honor bestowed on an organization that is an NPF franchisee expands the possibilities worldwide for integration of the NPF and the contribution opportunities for NPF players and teams to contribute positively to the participation and development of girls and women globally, in the category of stick and ball sports, particularly softball.

3.  USSSA moves headquarters to Viera, FL taking over the former home of the Washington Nationals spring training facility and adding on a state of the art championship sports complex that will host youth and adult softball events for years to come. This presence will further the awareness of the NPF through USSSA Pride and additional events that will include Pride and other NPF player interaction.

5.  Competition results set a record in winning their 5th regular season and 4th consecutive regular season title. The Scrap Yard Dawgs, in their second year as a franchise, won the coveted Cowles Cup as Champions of the Series.

PLAYERS

•   For the first time in history, the #1 Draft selection came from the ACC and Florida State University. That selection, made by USSSA Pride, was pitcher, Jessica Burroughs.

•   The 2017 season enjoyed 2 No Hitters - Brittany Mack Oakes of the Texas Charge threw one in July followed approximately a week later by Monica Abbott of the Scrap Yard Dawgs.

•   Primary individual Awards

•   Second year for Gold Glove Award in NPF - Chelsea Goodacre, catcher for USSSA Pride was the recipient of the prestigious award

•   For the 3rd consecutive year, Pride outfielder, Kelly Kretschman was named the League Most Outstanding Player, an award presented in 2017 by Park Planet

•   For a record 5th time in league history, Monica Abbott was named the Diamond Sports Pitcher of the Year.

•   Also for a league record, Abbott was awarded the Championship Series MVP award for a record 3rd time, a feat she accomplished while pitching for 3 separate teams.

STREAMING - NPFTV, The Olympic Channel, MLB.com, FloSoftball