• Loading stock data...
Monday, June 23, 2025

U.S. Professional Softball Players Are Flocking to Japan to Get Paid

The top American softball players are supplementing their U.S. professional seasons and traveling around the world for a spot in Japan’s Diamond League, which is among the best in the world in player compensation and accommodations.

Donnie Gobourne JDL
Donnie Gobourne
Exclusive

Chip Caray Will Not be Suspended for Accidental Homophobic Slur: Sources

The verbal stumble was followed by over 30 seconds of silence.
Read Now
June 21, 2025 |

A teal bike with a basket for groceries is Kelly Maxwell’s new mode of transportation. Typically, the former Oklahoma softball star would prefer a car. But in Kariya, Japan—a small suburb of Nagoya—everyone drives on the opposite side of the road that she’s used to, and she hasn’t quite mastered the change.

The U.S. and Japan are currently No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the women’s softball world ranking, which was last updated in July. But in the business of softball, there may be nowhere more lucrative to play than Japan’s Diamond League.

That’s why Maxwell packed her bags and made the nearly 7,000-mile move across the Pacific. She’s now in the spring leg of her first season in the JDL, where the season is eight months long, with the first half being played from August to November and the second half from March to June. Maxwell, who graduated from Oklahoma in 2024, plans to begin veterinary school in the fall—and the money in Japan was a huge factor in her decision.

“It’s probably double anything in the States,” the left-handed pitcher for the Toyota Industries Shining Vega, tells Front Office Sports. “I knew I had this gap year between graduating and beginning veterinary school. I was like, Wow, what a great opportunity to put money in my pocket to help pay for school and not have to rely on loans and being in debt when I’m out.”

Maxwell declined to give her full salary but said she makes six figures playing in the JDL. For more than two decades, players like her have supplemented their pro seasons with U.S. leagues by going to Japan.

Not only are most players like Maxwell making more than double the salaries offered by American leagues, but multiple players also tell FOS that the substantially higher compensation is luring the best players abroad, creating an enhanced level of skill and better atmosphere for competition. Events are often sold out, with raucous crowds enjoying the games with an uninterrupted stream of Japanese pop music broadcast throughout stadiums—even during play. 

Former South Carolina pitcher Donnie Gobourne, who now plays for the Hitachi Sundiva, says the amenities for pro softball players are a major factor in drawing the sport’s best players to Japan. On top of her six-figure salary—pitchers are often the highest-paid players, both in the U.S. and Japan—she enjoys private living and a chef who cooks three meals a day, minus off-days. 

“They value softball a lot here,” says Gobourne. “I’m not going to say they don’t value it in America, because obviously we do. I can just say it’s entirely different.” 


Opportunities to play pro softball in the U.S. have existed off and on for years. 

One of the sport’s earliest professional leagues in the U.S.—the International Women’s Professional Softball Association—arrived in 1976; it lasted just three years before its dissolution. The Women’s Pro Softball League—founded in 1997 on the heels of the sport’s first Olympic appearance in 1996—folded in 2001. National Pro Fastpitch was formed three years later and played its final season in 2019 following the cancellation of two seasons (2020 and 2021) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Players were paid, but it was far from a livable wage, according to multiple former players in the NPF. Many supplemented their incomes with offseason coaching jobs and clinics. 

Kelly Maxwell
Kelly Maxwell

In 2020, Athletes Unlimited launched its inaugural season of AU Pro Softball, now the All-Star Cup. Women’s Pro Fastpitch was formed a year later and began play in 2023. In June, Athletes Unlimited will launch another iteration of professional softball, AUSL, which will feature four teams with a traditional-format 24-game schedule. 

No league has existed longer than 15 years in the game’s modern era. And what all these leagues have failed to do is crack the code for mainstreaming professional softball—and subsequently enable players to earn meaningful professional-athlete salaries. 

Athletes Unlimited offers softball players the most lucrative base salary in the U.S., with average player compensation at $40,000 per season. AUSL players will also receive year-round health benefits, which is a first for professional softball players in the U.S. 

But that package pales in comparison to what the JDL can offer its athletes.

That’s because Japan has cleared the biggest hurdle the U.S. has faced to turn softball into a major sport with professional salaries: It has invested in its leagues. American leagues are falling short, says USA Softball player Sam Fischer, because there’s a shortage of capital flowing into the sport. “The main answer is always going to be money,” she says. “People have to be willing to spend money and likely lose money in the beginning to get something off the ground.” 

In Japan, however, ownership groups are investing in softball. Teams are owned and funded by some of the country’s leading companies. Toyota, Hitachi, and Honda all own teams in the JDL, which rebranded from its predecessor, Japan Women’s Softball League, in 2022. The Japanese players on every roster are paid as employees of the company that owns the team they’re playing for. This allows international players like Maxwell and Gobourne to earn higher salaries. 

“American players sign one-year contracts,” says Mayumi Murakami, VP of Women’s Major League Softball, an agency specializing in helping international players sign with Japanese pro softball teams. “They can make a lot more money than Japanese players because they are guaranteed lifetime careers and salaries with the company that owns the team.” 

Signing with the JDL comes with a lifetime employment contract with the team’s ownership company. The hours players work for the company vary. Some players work company hours only during the offseason while others juggle both, practicing after work. 

Kelly Maxwell
Kelly Maxwell

Murakami played one season in NPF in 2005 with the Texas Thunder. Her U.S. pro salary was more of a stipend: about $3,000, she estimates, over the course of a four-month season, which lasted from June to September. She adds players weren’t always paid on time, and recalls teammates having to call parents to send them money for dinner. She says the league also lacked overall professionalism—which Murakami understood considering the meager pay.

“[In the U.S.], I wasn’t playing for the money,” says Murakami, who played seven seasons for Toyota’s team, in the Japan Women’s Softball League, beginning in 1992. “I played in Japan to make money.” 


In Japan, softball is one of the premier women’s sports; from a young age, players commit to training and development because of the lifetime-employment incentive. 

“They breed monsters out there,” AUSL pitcher Aleshia Ocasio tells FOS. “They just take it so seriously. They’re practicing for five hours a day or more. To put it into perspective, I would get to practice late and leave early.” 

Ocasio played two months in Japan in 2019 and made more than she would in a full season in the NPF. The following year she signed a JDL contract valued at $90,000, but she didn’t end up cashing in after missing the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the first time since 2021, softball will return to the Olympics in 2028. At the Los Angeles Games, Japan will be the biggest threat to the U.S.’s pursuit of gold. But until then, the country is still luring the best professional talent while the American pro leagues are playing catchup.

“A lot of players, if they have the opportunity to play in Japan, they would jump on it immediately,” Gobourne says. “I also think they’re still prioritizing what’s going on in the States, too, and trying to make softball as big as it is in Japan in America.” 

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Thunder Win NBA Finals Behind Young, Deep, and Cheap Roster

The Thunder’s young and cheap roster won its first title Sunday.

Pacers Lose Haliburton in NBA Finals—and Possibly for a Season

Haliburton entered the game with a right calf strain he played Game 6 with.

WNBA Players Drop Fresh Statement in CBA Fight: ‘We Want a Fair..

The WNBA All-Star Game is less than four weeks away.
Mar 15, 2025; Fort Worth, TX, USA; UAB Blazers forward Yaxel Lendeborg (3) dribbles the ball upcourt against the North Texas Mean Green during the first half at Dickies Arena

NIL Is Shrinking the Pool of NBA Draft Entrants

Agents are now advising many players to stay in school.

Featured Today

Apr 24, 2025; Green Bay, WI, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Abdul Carter on the red carpet before the 2025 NFL Draft at Lambeau Field

‘More Is More’: The Elite Luxury Jewelers Decking Out Athletes

Meet the elite group of luxury designers crafting the biggest statement pieces.
Dec 5, 2024; Miami, FL, USA; FIFA president Gianni Infantino presents the FIFA Club World Cup trophy during the Club Word Cup draw at Telemundo Studios.
June 15, 2025

Revamped Club World Cup Is FIFA’s Billion-Dollar Gamble

The revamped soccer event debuts amid controversy.
Jun 10, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino stands during the anthem against the Switzerland during the first at Geodis Park
June 14, 2025

Gold Cup Is Complicated for USMNT—but U.S. Soccer Has Its Eyes on..

Uncertain tournament success isn’t fazing forward-looking U.S. soccer.
Jan 24, 2017; Davidson, NC, USA; The Davidson Wildcats student section cheers during the first half against the Duquesne Dukes at McKillop Court at John M. Belk Arena. Davidson defeated Duquesne 74-60.
June 6, 2025

Every College Wants a Flashy Basketball GM Hire Right Now

The role is more important than ever, and the definition is ever-evolving.

Pac-12 Still Playing Conference Tetris As Realignment Heats Up

Sacramento State is leaving the Big Sky for the Big West.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) celebrates after scoring a 3-pointer Tuesday, June 17, 2025, during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Indiana Fever defeated the Connecticut Sun, 88-71.
June 18, 2025

Caitlin Clark ‘Celebrates’ Chance at $500K Commissioner’s Cup Prize

The winning team shares a $500,000 prize pool.
June 19, 2025

Fire Rekindled? WNBA’s Portland Expansion Team Eyes Original Name

WNBA trademarks hint at Portland Fire revival as league expands and honors history.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

Ted Leonsis unpacks basketball’s global rise, media rights, and portfolio ownership.
June 18, 2025

Dana White’s Next Frontier: Making Jiu-Jitsu Mainstream

The TKO Group Holdings–owned competition expands once again.
Club World Cup
June 18, 2025

Club World Cup Attendance Plummets for Weekday Games: 3,700 in Orlando, ‘Almost..

Chelsea’s manager bemoaned an “almost empty” stadium in Atlanta.
June 18, 2025

Premier League Embraces NFL-Style Flex Scheduling for 2025–26

The league warns of additional games “moving at relatively short notice.”
Sophie Cunningham
June 18, 2025

Fever and Sun Hit With Tiny Fines After Wild Melee

WNBA coaches have long complained about a lack of transparency in fines.