NPF Announces New Schedule Format For 2020 Season

The 2020 National Pro Fastpitch season will feature a new schedule format, which was announced by league representatives on Tuesday.

The new format, which will include a minimum of three teams competing at any time during league competition, will feature a series-event model that is designed to feature multiple teams at once.

According to a league press release, each of the teams in the NPF will compete in a "pre-designed, fairly matched layout, which will ultimately determine a winner for each series."

Next season's NPF standings will be dictated by a weighted points system that will grant points to teams based on head-to-head and series wins.

“The timing is perfect for NPF to move into this type of regular season schedule,” NPF Commissioner Cheri Kempf said in the release. “With our current global footprint and desire to grow that aspect, the attractiveness and business sense surrounding event-style competition, and the obvious sponsorship activation as well as multi-media appeal this type of format lends itself to, it’s clearly the right move for the leader in professional softball to take.”

With this format, team owners do not have to possess a designated home venue, which provides the league with greater flexibility to showcase its teams at various locations throughout the course of a campaign.

“This format lends itself to a larger atmosphere for our players and fans,” Kempf added. “Allowing hosts the latitude to choose when and where to hold events, and to be able to surround each one with ancillary activities, will let entities build a high quality overall experience for everyone. Formerly, it was difficult for the league to engage and be present with entities that were excellent at hosting quality events but did not own a team. This model allows those people to do what they do best and in doing that, create a high quality engagement around professional softball.”

The NPF will be accepting series-event proposals until December and will announce its 2020 schedule in January.

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