Fri Nov 21 12:50:00 UTC 2025: News Article:

Women’s Pro Baseball League to Launch Inaugural Season in Springfield, Illinois

Springfield, IL – The Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) has announced that its historic inaugural season in 2026 will be held at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois. The 5,200-seat venue, currently home to the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes, will serve as the central location for all regular season games, providing exclusivity for the league’s four teams.

“Robin Roberts Stadium offers a strategic location with excellent transportation access and a first-rate venue,” the league said in a statement. “This will provide the exclusivity that we wanted for our players.”

The WPBL, which aims to revitalize professional women’s baseball for the first time since the 1940s, will feature teams representing Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. While these cities won’t host regular season games, they will host barnstorming games with the details still in the works.

“Our sport is for everybody,” said WPBL co-founder Keith Stein. “We thought our teams are on these two coasts, it would be good to be in the middle of the country.”

Following tryouts held in August, the top 100 players, including notable names like Mo’ne Davis and Kelsie Whitmore, are eligible for the WPBL Draft, scheduled for Thursday. The draft will see each team make five picks per round across six rounds, resulting in 120 total player selections. San Francisco will pick first, followed by Los Angeles, New York, and Boston, in a snake-style draft order. Each team will have a roster of 30 players.

The league will operate with a $95,000 salary per team for the first season. The league will also cover living costs, and players will receive a percentage of sponsorship money.

The WPBL plans to expand to six teams in 2027, signaling a commitment to the long-term growth and success of women’s professional baseball.

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