![]() “She's really the first superstar in our game who's going to have the opportunity to go from playing on ESPN in college at the highest level to then going and playing on ESPN family of networks at the professional level,” Lombardo said. Kayla Lombardo, lead editor at Softball America, said Alo and other elite softball players are reaping the benefits of living and playing in a historically great time for women athletes. Social media and the NIL age are helpful, relatively new developments that keep fans engaged. Take Florida softball alumna Amanda Lorenz or Michigan’s Sierra Romero for example. While she’s a generational talent, she wouldn’t be the first collegiate softball player ESPN has fallen in love with during the WCWS and then abandoned. … I think she is famous and a fantastic athlete in a way that we very rarely see.” I know that that league will have a huge influx of fans. “So I think she's going to be huge for pro softball whichever league she chooses. “It really is kind of a once in a blue moon situation where they're hitting all the marks that makes sports fans go crazy,” Collins said. Fans feel like they know her and want to root for her. Her story from Hau’ula, Hawaii, to Norman, Oklahoma, is all over sports media’s biggest outlets. Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback, sent Alo a direct message on Instagram to congratulate her on such a dominant career. She views Alo as the kind of talent who transcends softball. ![]() Savanna Collins is a digital reporter and producer for Athletes Unlimited, a fantasy style women’s professional sports league. This is another big step for our sport and for women as a whole." "The attention that she’s garnered is all deserved, and to see the world respond in a craze to a woman dominating her sport should be normalized. "Jocelyn is the epitome of the modern female athlete," Chamberlain said after Alo's announcement. Now she serves as the commissioner of the Women’s Professional Fastpitch (WPF), a fledgling league that launches its inaugural two-team (the USSSA Pride and the Smash It Sports Vipers) exhibition season Tuesday and will stream games online. We want that attention around an athlete and a decision that she makes just like it would be for the men in the professional space that are choosing to go somewhere next.”Ĭhamberlain,played professional softball for four years in the National Pro Fastpitch. “She's making decisions, and people are kind of waiting to see where she goes,” said Lauren Chamberlain, former Sooner and former NCAA home run record holder. What could Alo and her championship pedigree do to change that? The title game on ESPN2 averaged 1.7 million viewers, peaking at 2.1 million.ĭespite this, professional softball in America has yet to take off. ESPN’s prime-time broadcast of Oklahoma and Texas’ first matchup in the championship series (which fought Game 3 of the NBA Finals on ABC for eyeballs) averaged 1.4 million viewers. The first season of Division I softball (1982) included 2,532 athletes compared to 6,892 in 2021, according to the NCAA. Over 1.3 million players annually participate in the USA Softball youth program. And I'm just excited to see what little girl's gonna work hard out there to come and break my record.” “I've definitely enjoyed my five years, and I'm excited to see what the Sooners softball team does. “I think that I've definitely left my mark,” Alo said after Oklahoma won its sixth national championship Thursday. The game has experienced augmented growth in the glow of her stardom, although national interest has been consistently increasing for some time. Much has been said about her premiere performance and all its done to popularize softball.
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