The Women's Pro Baseball League was co-founded in 2024 by former
Major League Baseball (MLB)
coach Justine Siegal, and owner of the
Intercounty Baseball League's
Toronto Maple Leafs, Keith Stein. An advocate for
gender equality in sports, Siegal previously founded Baseball for All, a
501(c)(3) organization that promotes girls' participation in baseball. The commercial success and stability of the
Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and
National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) inspired Siegal and Stein to create a
professional league for
women's baseball, The league's primary aim is to increase the visibility and proliferation of women's baseball by establishing a pathway to
professionalism – no
high school or
college in the U.S. offers girls' baseball programs, and while over 1,300 girls played on high school baseball teams in the 2023–24
academic year, only nine women played on
NCAA college baseball teams in 2024. The league also intends to capitalize on
market research conducted by the MLB, which found that 46% of MLB fans were women, and 53% of women considered themselves MLB fans. The league's startup cost was reportedly between $5–30 million.
(pictured) in
Washington, D.C., in August 2025. The WPBL's establishment was announced to the public via a
press release in October 2024. Player registrations opened shortly afterwards, and within 24 hours, over 400 players from the U.S., Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom registered their interest in playing in the league. In August 2025, the league held tryouts at the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy and
Nationals Park in
Washington, D.C. to determine 130 eligible draftees. Over 600 players registered to take part in the tryouts, including
Mo'ne Davis, whose return to baseball after five years attracted notable media attention. The inaugural four teams of the WPBL were announced in late October,
Kelsie Whitmore was the first draft pick; she was selected by the San Francisco team. Mo'ne Davis was the tenth pick, selected by the Los Angeles team. == Format ==