"The NFL is set to launch professional flag football leagues for both men and women within the next couple of years, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced at the Leaders in Sport conference in London's Twickenham Stadium on Thursday, as first reported by the Associated Press. The new leagues aim to debut ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, where flag football will make its Olympic debut as an official sport. Goodell expressed optimism about the significant interest in establishing these leagues and highlighted the growing enthusiasm for flag football worldwide."
"Goodell noted the rapid growth in flag-football participation at youth and collegiate levels, underscoring efforts to create a structured pipeline starting from youth leagues through high school and college, eventually reaching professional play. "If you set that structure up where there's youth leagues, going into high school, into college and then professional, I think you can develop a system of scale. That's an important infrastructure that we need to create," Goodell said."
"Flag football has surged in popularity as a non-contact, gender-inclusive version of American football. USA Football reports youth flag football participation has increased dramatically in recent years, with nearly 1.6 million athletes ages 6 to 17 playing the sport in the U.S. in 2023 alone. The sport is especially prominent among girls and women, according to the the National Governing Body for American Football in the U.S., contributing to calls for expanded professional opportunities."
The NFL plans to launch professional men's and women's flag football leagues within the next couple of years, targeting a debut ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The league aims to establish a development pipeline from youth leagues through high school and college to professional play to build scalable infrastructure. Youth participation has surged, with nearly 1.6 million U.S. athletes ages 6 to 17 playing flag football in 2023. Flag football is a non-contact, gender-inclusive version of American football and shows particularly strong growth among girls and women, prompting calls for expanded professional opportunities.
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