How the Pandemic Created a Perfect Storm for Athletes Unlimited

When Athletes Unlimited announced itself on March 3, 2020, co-founder and CEO Jon Patricof was unsure of how his product was going to be embraced by sports fans. One week later, the world shut down due to COVID, as did most sports leagues at first. 

But AU’s debut softball season was never meant to be about in-person fans, and it was welcomed with open arms when it debuted in August. 

“Against the backdrop of MLB and college football and everything else that would’ve been happening, I think it would’ve looked a little strange,” Patricof told Front Office Sports on the latest episode of Portfolio Players. “As it turned out, we fit the time.”

Patricof and co-founder Jonathan Soros launched Athletes Unlimited with “a plan to disrupt professional team sports.” 

“Seasons were getting too long,” Patricof said. “What if we came in and created a short season, one location and really put all the intensity around that?”

The strategy benefited Athletes Unlimited once COVID hit. Unlike many sports leagues, AU did not have to account for teams playing games simultaneously throughout the country, making it easier for the company to adapt to the restrictions the pandemic put in place.

And the priority was always media and content, not in-person fans, Patricof said, so even amid pandemic lockdowns, “We looked at each other and said, Did we really create something that actually might work by the time we get to August 2020?”

Athletes Unlimited kept planning for its softball season, scheduled to take place at a complex in Rosemont, Ill., and picked up some reinforcements ahead of first pitch. The 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed, leading many players who only planned to play in Tokyo to join AU for the season. Additionally, Athletes Unlimited added ESPN and CBS as broadcast partners, a move that had been in the works for months, but finally crossed the finish line thanks to COVID.

“They had been a little timid in the early days of January, February, March when we were talking to them,” Patricof said. “Once they realized what the landscape might look like, they were much more willing to take a risk on a new upstart.”

The first AU Pro Softball Championship Season was successful and in 2024, an official league, Athletes Unlimited Softball League, was launched, with former Marlins general manager Kim Ng appointed as the league’s commissioner. Just one year later, MLB made a historic eight-figure investment in AUSL, which included marketing and broadcast support. 

Athletes Unlimited has since launched women’s basketball and volleyball leagues. (It also shuttered its lacrosse effort.) Patricof said the overall goal is not necessarily to be the industry leader in each sport, but in some cases to complement existing leagues. 

“WNBA players were all having to go overseas in the offseason. NWSL players weren’t really making a living wage,” he said. “And so our thought was, What if we came in and added to the existing ecosystems or created a new opportunity for players.”

Women’s sports have seen a massive uptick in popularity since the pandemic, with new women’s leagues also emerging in sports like lacrosse, hockey, and baseball. While Athletes Unlimited may have been destined for success given this trend, Patricof stands firm in his belief that AU massively benefited from COVID.

“Timing is a huge part of everything,” he said. “I do think it really ultimately was a huge part of the success.”