Professional women’s baseball is back.
That alone is exciting. But as we started digging into the launch of the Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL), it wasn’t just the return of professional baseball that caught our attention. It was who we kept seeing.
Scroll through the league’s social media, watch its launch videos, or look through its player spotlights, and you’ll quickly notice that many of the athletes introducing this new league to the world are openly queer, visibly gender nonconforming, or both. Players like Ashton Lansdell, Kelsie Whitmore and Denae Benites aren’t tucked away in the background. They’re among the personalities helping define what the league looks and feels like from day one.
That may not sound revolutionary on paper, but in the context of women’s sports, it feels significant.
A New League, Four Teams, and a Fresh Start
The Women’s Pro Baseball League will officially begin play in 2026, marking the return of a professional women’s baseball league in the United States for the first time in decades. The inaugural season features four teams representing Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, with games being played in Springfield, Illinois during the league’s first season before teams eventually transition to their home markets.
The league has also attracted some of the biggest names in women’s baseball. Kelsie Whitmore, who made history playing professionally in independent men’s baseball and has become one of the sport’s most recognizable athletes, was selected with the first overall pick. Alongside Team USA veterans, international talent, and rising stars, the WPBL is bringing together a level of experience that gives the league immediate credibility.
Games will stream live on YouTube, making it remarkably easy for fans to jump in from Opening Day.
That’s the news.
What interested us even more was everything surrounding it.
The League Already Feels Comfortable Being Queer
Women’s sports have never lacked queer athletes. They’ve always been there.
What’s changed is how comfortable leagues have become celebrating them.
We recently explored that evolution through the WNBA, a league that has long been home to LGBTQ+ players but didn’t immediately embrace that identity in the public way fans recognize today. The culture that now feels so natural players bringing their partners to games, Pride nights, openly discussing their lives, and queer athletes becoming some of the league’s biggest stars was built over years by athletes who chose visibility even when it wasn’t always easy.
Watching the WPBL launch feels different.
Rather than waiting for that culture to develop over time, the league appears to be introducing itself in a sports landscape where queer athletes are already expected to be visible, authentic, and celebrated.
That doesn’t mean every player is queer, nor does it mean the league is marketing itself exclusively to LGBTQ+ fans.
It simply means that as we’ve watched the rollout, many of the athletes leading it happen to be openly queer—and the league isn’t shying away from that reality.
For queer fans, especially masc-presenting lesbians and gender nonconforming people who haven’t always seen themselves reflected in sports marketing, that’s hard not to notice.
Meet Some of the Faces of the League
One of those faces is Ashton Lansdell.
Already well known to many baseball fans through social media, Lansdell has built a sizable audience by documenting life as a baseball player while bringing plenty of personality to the sport. That existing connection with fans makes them a natural ambassador for a brand-new league trying to introduce itself to new audiences.
Denae Benites has also become one of the athletes featured prominently throughout the league’s launch. If you’ve spent even a few minutes scrolling through the WPBL’s announcements, chances are you’ve already seen Benites representing the league across graphics, promotional materials, and social content.
Then there’s Whitmore, arguably the biggest competitive name in women’s baseball today, whose résumé has helped legitimize the league before the first pitch has even been thrown.
Those are exactly the kinds of athletes you want introducing people to a new league—not just because they’re talented, but because they already know how to build community around the game.
Why We’ll Be Watching
There’s something uniquely fun about following a league from the very beginning.
There are new rivalries to discover, players to get behind, traditions that haven’t been written yet, and fan communities that are still finding each other. That’s part of what has made the recent boom in women’s sports so exciting, and it’s a feeling the WPBL has a chance to capture from its very first season.
We’ll also be keeping an eye on the cities these teams represent. Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco have long been some of the most vibrant LGBTQ+ destinations in the country, and once these clubs eventually settle into their home markets, they could become another great reason to plan a weekend around a game.
For now, though, we’re simply excited to see professional women’s baseball return—and to see it arrive in a moment where queer athletes don’t have to wait years to be visible.
They already are.
