It is a single-elimination tournament, with seeding based on regular season records.

The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship each season.

The American is one of two successors to the original Big East Conference, which split after the 2013 season.

The first year of the tournament was held at Cougar Softball Stadium in Houston, Texas.

Ten of the thirteen current all-sport members of the conference sponsor softball.