NASHVILLE, TN – A historic announcement in the history of women’s sports in Nashville was made last week when Athletes Unlimited Sports, who host a network of professional women’s leagues in sports such as basketball, volleyball, and softball, announced they will be coming back to Music City next year to play in the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.
Chief Growth Officer of Athletes Unlimited Allie Kleva said that AU has received an overwhelming warm welcome from both the city of Nashville and Nashville sports fans alike, something that greatly influenced AU’s decision to come back another year.
“It’s men, women, and children, you know, families come out,” Kleva said. “At the end of the day what you see on the court is incredibly competitive by quality five-on-five basketball from some of the most talented basketball players around.”
Kleva said AU first announced that they would be coming to Nashville last summer, during which she said AU established a great working relationship with what was referred to as a Nashville Organizing Committee with representation from the Nashville Sports Council, Mayor’s Office, and the Visitors’ Bureau. She said that through this team, AU had been doing a lot to engage with Nashville’s community before officially moving, so when AU was ready to make its move to Nashville, they were already “firing all those cylinders.”
She said one promotional effort involved AU collaborating with local Nashville artist Deja McBride, also known as “The Rap Girl” and who recently garnered significant national attention after performing for the Nashville Predators, to write and perform a song specifically for the athletes of AU. Kleva said that this groundwork, combined with the incredible playing skill of the athletes themselves, led to the AU being embraced by franchises and universities alike throughout Tennessee, including the Tennessee Titans, the Nashville Predators, Vanderbilt University, Belmont College, and Lipscomb University.
Kleva said she felt this was the perfect time for a professional women’s sports team to come to Nashville, considering both Nashville and Tennessee’s rich history with women’s sports and specifically women’s basketball. She said that as the only women’s professional sports franchise currently operating in Nashville, AU could not be more excited to have a platform to use for progressing athletes within their organization.
“I think we’ve experienced, over the course of the last year, year plus, has been this real energy and focus around women’s professional sports as a real business opportunity,” Kleva said. “It’s all part of an ecosystem; it’s not an overnight sensation that women are elite athletes and play incredibly competitive sports, right? It’s just that culture is caught up with that moment.”
Kleva said that though others may just be recognizing women’s sports, many fans have been there supporting their favorite athletes for a long time. She said that now that AU has had the opportunity to establish relationships with other businesses and franchises in Nashville, many of the athletes feel as if they can work with the momentum that they themselves and AU have been building for so long.
“I think the visibility of being able to see women’s professional sports on linear television and not having to look to the dark corner of the internet to find it, to make it more accessible to fans has been huge,” Kleva said.
Kleva said that Nashvillians can follow up on the latest AU updates on their social media @AUProBasketball and on their website auprosports.com.
