Timeline of women's sports in the United States Alberga was the first woman to play a full season in a professional men's baseball league. 1949 - Sara Christian became the first female NASCAR driver, racing in the inaugural NASCAR race at Charlotte Speedway, even though she had Bob Flock finish the race. In the second official race at Daytona Beach and Road Course, also in 1949, Christian was joined by Ethel Mobley and Louise Smith, with Mobley finishing ahead of the 3, at 11th. 1950 - Kathryn Johnston, only twelve years old, was the first girl to play Little League Baseball. She played for the King's Dairy team
Professional sports leagues in the United States in North America. Founded in 1996 and beginning play in the 1997 season, it is the longest-running American professional women's sport league in history. The league's attendance has fluctuated over the last several seasons. It had an average per-game attendance of 8,039 in 2009 and 7,834 in 2010. Total attendance was 1,598,160 in 2010. In 2007, the league signed a television deal with ESPN that would run from 2009 to 2016. This deal is the first to ever pay rights fees to women's teams. In 2009 it had a total television viewership of 413,000 in combined cable and broadcast television.