WPBL Partners With Jeff Jarrett’s Golden Rule Entertainment

The new Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) has announced it has found a home for its inaugural season. The league, which is set to launch in August 2026, will not play in the cities its four teams are named for—New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Instead, the entire seven-week inaugural season will take place at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois.

League co-founder Keith Stein told Front Office Sports that the location was chosen to be in the “middle of the country”. After evaluating 200 venues, the WPBL selected Robin Roberts Stadium (capacity 5,200) because it was one of 10 offers that provided exclusive use of the facility, which Stein said was a priority.

The WPBL will operate as a single-entity league to prioritize parity, though Stein noted they fielded “considerable interest” from parties wishing to own a franchise. Golden Rule Entertainment, which operates the stadium, will partner with the WPBL to manage all baseball operations for the 2026 season. The deal also includes Golden Rule launching and managing a developmental league in 2027.

The league has seen financial success, with its Series A investment being oversubscribed. The plan was to raise $2 million, but the WPBL expects to close on a $3 million raise.

Over 600 athletes from 10 countries attended the league’s open tryout in August. That list has been cut to 120 players who will be eligible for the first draft on Thursday. Notable players available in the draft include former Little League sensation Mo’ne Davis and Kelsie Whitmore.

Davis, who hasn’t played competitive baseball since 2020, admitted she originally thought the league’s social media posts were “fake”. She realized the league was real after seeing U.S. women’s national baseball team star Alex Hugo interviewed about it.

“As a collective we’re making sure the younger generation has something to look forward to when they get older,” Davis said. “You’ll hear a lot of women in the league say they transitioned to softball because there wasn’t anything baseball wise for them. This allows those younger girls, other women to have another outlet”.