National Sports Services and Ventura Sports Group have combined forces to launch the Mid America League, a new premium baseball development league slated to start with six teams in the summer of 2024.
The League will reside in the geographic area of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana with the inaugural franchises to be announced over the next several weeks. The League will play a 68-game schedule to start in late May and run through early August, concluding with playoffs to determine the League champion.
The League will also be contracting with Opendorse to implement a program offering Name, Image and Likeness opportunities for players. Opendorse was one of the initial administrators of NIL programs nationally and currently has thousands of athletes under its umbrella, as well as numerous Division I NCAA athletic departments.
The League is focused on markets of at least 100,000 in regional population with a solid business base, and will initially play in a combination of municipal and university facilities. Teams will be owned by individual ownership groups with several markets offering opportunities for new stadium development in the future. League founders are already actively pursuing expansion markets for future seasons.
Matt Perry, President of National Sports Services commented, “We’re really excited to develop this new league with markets that are devoid of a summer team in their region, many of which haven’t had a local baseball franchise in decades. We expect the Mid America League to fast become one of the premier leagues in the nation for fan attendance, player development and franchise values.”
Mark Schuster, CEO of Ventura Sports Group added, “I’ve been working on a southern based league for several years. The combination of the operating experience of National Sports Services along with the new stadium development services of Ventura makes this the perfect opportunity to develop a premier development league in the south central part of the U.S. We’re excited to start announcing our initial markets and quality ownership groups in the weeks ahead.”
Zachry Associates, based in Abilene, Texas, developed the League logo and is contracted to develop branding for the teams that are joining the League.
For more information about the Mid America League, contact Matt Perry at matt@nsssports.com or you may contact the league office through our contact form by clicking this link: Contact Form