NPF issues

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May 23, 2015
999
63
The difficult to you have with a sports League is that all teams must be self-sustaining. That is extremely difficult in a narrow market like fastpitch softball. The sport has been going on a very long time and it's never gotten any traction or monetization
 
Oct 3, 2011
3,478
113
Right Here For Now
...Ultimately fans don’t root for players but for teams... Pretty much tells you all you need to know about the NPF.

While I agree with this, it's also a total lack of proper marketing on the NPF's part. We tried to go to at least 4-5 Akron Racers game a year. The prices were more than right, the venue was fantastic and the team did many promotions to further FPSB in general. However, it's still an hour drive away from home and although we tried to play as many tournaments in the Akron area as possible, it didn't work out as often as we liked.
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,712
113
Chicago
I understand they need to do whatever they can to survive these days, but when you have a Chinese, Australian, and Canadian team in a six-team American league (and, of course, they don't actually play games in their home countries, which is somehow actually the smarter move), it's going to be tough to build any kind of real following. The NPF also has a terrible network of websites (they don't even have the dot com address for all team names), worthless social media, virtually no useful video of games, etc.

I've always hoped MLB would get behind a pro softball league, but they seem to be starting to push to get girls to play baseball instead, which is great for a lot of reasons, but selfishly I kind of hate it. Still, I think with MLB's backing (financial, marketing, promotion, television), a league could be successful.
 
Last edited:
Apr 16, 2010
924
43
Alabama
I look at the fact that the biggest softball areas of the country are not represented. Georgia has become a huge fastpitch state. What about California? I understand the logistics and cost would be enormous for a road trip to LA from Atlanta but what about a western division and an eastern division?

Could it work if it was divided like MLB? Maybe Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, and West. How about franchises having a certain number of players protected coming out of assigned colleges then make them available to the draft if not selected? A franchise in Birmingham with AU/UA players highlighting the team would draw. A franchise in Atlanta with UGA/Tech players would draw. The same thing could work in Charlotte, Nashville, and even New Orleans not to mention Orlando. If divided into regional divisions road trips would be doable by bus like the minors. You could have franchises nationwide and cut costs by not playing games outside of the region. The region champions could meet for the playoffs and championship.
 

#10

Jun 24, 2011
398
28
909
I look at the fact that the biggest softball areas of the country are not represented. Georgia has become a huge fastpitch state. What about California? I understand the logistics and cost would be enormous for a road trip to LA from Atlanta but what about a western division and an eastern division?

Could it work if it was divided like MLB? Maybe Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, and West. How about franchises having a certain number of players protected coming out of assigned colleges then make them available to the draft if not selected? A franchise in Birmingham with AU/UA players highlighting the team would draw. A franchise in Atlanta with UGA/Tech players would draw. The same thing could work in Charlotte, Nashville, and even New Orleans not to mention Orlando. If divided into regional divisions road trips would be doable by bus like the minors. You could have franchises nationwide and cut costs by not playing games outside of the region. The region champions could meet for the playoffs and championship.

Good points. From a marketing standpoint, I think the Chicago team did a good thing by calling itself the Bandits, aligning with the familiarity of the successful travel org in the area.

The league has to expand beyond playing in the Midwest and Florida. Call the Alabama team the Thunderbolts, NY metro team Intensity, Philly team Rock, Cali teams Firecrackers/Batbusters, etc. Know your audience.
 

#10

Jun 24, 2011
398
28
909
I look at the fact that the biggest softball areas of the country are not represented. Georgia has become a huge fastpitch state. What about California? I understand the logistics and cost would be enormous for a road trip to LA from Atlanta but what about a western division and an eastern division?

Could it work if it was divided like MLB? Maybe Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, and West. How about franchises having a certain number of players protected coming out of assigned colleges then make them available to the draft if not selected? A franchise in Birmingham with AU/UA players highlighting the team would draw. A franchise in Atlanta with UGA/Tech players would draw. The same thing could work in Charlotte, Nashville, and even New Orleans not to mention Orlando. If divided into regional divisions road trips would be doable by bus like the minors. You could have franchises nationwide and cut costs by not playing games outside of the region. The region champions could meet for the playoffs and championship.

Good points. From a marketing standpoint, I think the Chicago team did a good thing by calling itself the Bandits, aligning with the familiarity of the successful travel org in the area.

The league has to expand beyond playing in the Midwest and Florida. Call the Alabama team the Thunderbolts, NY metro team Intensity, Philly team Rock, Cali teams Firecrackers/Batbusters, etc. Know your audience.
 
Jul 14, 2018
982
93
While I agree with this, it's also a total lack of proper marketing on the NPF's part. We tried to go to at least 4-5 Akron Racers game a year. The prices were more than right, the venue was fantastic and the team did many promotions to further FPSB in general. However, it's still an hour drive away from home and although we tried to play as many tournaments in the Akron area as possible, it didn't work out as often as we liked.

Maybe the fixed venue and regions are part of the problem. In the early days of baseball and men's fastpitch in the time of Eddie Feigner, barnstorming was the way to go.

Imagine a league where the games are played at existing college facilities. A four-day barnstorming stop for two teams might include a two-day clinic for local players to learn from the pros with game tickets included in the price. Maybe an exhibition game against the host team. Fundraisers for the local rec leagues where they get a cut of ticket sales. These types of things would only work if you could get games into many more places than fixed venues can provide. Not to mention expanding the likelihood that people would come out to see a game if it were in their neighborhood. Not eight times a year, but once or twice. Think the Bandits would draw a few fans who would come out to see Aleshia Ocasio pitch in Gainesville? I think so.
 

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