NFL launches Flag Football as a response to the Little League World Series

The league has secured corporate sponsors and prominent television coverage for what it calls the NFL Flag Championships. The NFL continues to rely heavily on the flag version of the sport to encourage youth participation and increase fan interest in football at home and abroad.

More than 280 teams and nearly 2,900 players are expected to participate in the event, which is organized by NFL football partner RCX Sports. Teams from the United States, ranging in age from 9 to 15 (boys) and 18 (girls), will qualify through regional tournaments. The event will also feature teams from Canada, Mexico, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia and China, who will compete against each other.

“Think about something like the Little League World Series, which is a staple of the sport during the summer months and a destination for young baseball players, and how it’s been brought to life from a broadcast perspective,” said Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business, international and league events. “It’s really impressive.”

League officials also describe the event as a potential showcase and testing ground for young players who are candidates to represent their country at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where flag football will be offered for the first time.

“It’s the biggest stage, the biggest crowd and the world is seeing the best of the best in these age groups,” said Troy Vincent, NFL executive vice president of football operations. “This is the future of flag play. This is the future of flag play in high schools, colleges, pros and the Olympics. This is what we’re seeing. We’re getting a little glimpse.”

It is not a given that the NFL event will reach the popularity of the Little League World Series, which annually attracts 10- to 12-year-old players. in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. But the league is backing the project with considerable weight, with corporate sponsorship, most notably Toyota as the event’s “presenting partner,” and coverage on ten platforms, including Disney-owned channels ESPN and ABC.

“Our name is on it,” O’Reilly said. “This is the NFL Flag Championships. These young athletes, just like at the local level, will be wearing NFL team brands and uniforms and representing their team in their market. This is something we are directly committed to. … The number one priority is to grow the sport as a whole and put that effort into promoting the overall growth of flag because it is such a great, accessible core of our sport.”

The games will be played at Tom Benson Stadium, where the NFL hosts its annual Hall of Fame Game, and at the ForeverLawn Sports Complex in Hall of Fame Village, which was purchased in December by Josh Harris, the principal owner of the Washington Commanders, and David Blitzer, the Commanders’ part owner. An “opening night” is scheduled for July 18, and games will run through July 21.

The NFL has previously held flag football tournaments as part of its Pro Bowl games and staged a major event in Washington, DC last summer. However, this is the NFL’s first attempt at a standalone flag football tournament of this magnitude.

“With this size and scope,” said Stephanie Kwok, the NFL’s newly hired vice president and head of flag football, “I would say we’re thinking about it as this is the first year we’re doing the NFL Flag Championships. … We have this very special event that’s all about the players that are going to be at the Flag Championships. So it’s the first year and I think it’s really promising, all the engagement that we’re seeing with ESPN, with partners, with the teams. But we’re also looking at it very much as a first year and thinking about how it continues, how we can continue to grow it as well.

NFL officials have described flag football as an affordable, accessible and inclusive version of the sport that offers girls the opportunity to play football and young boys an introduction to the sport without exposing them to the injury risks associated with tackle football.

A total of 27 states have either made flag football a recognized sport for girls in high schools or are running pilot programs. Participation in women’s flag football at the collegiate level in the NAIA is increasing and there are efforts to establish it as an NCAA sport. The NFL believes that growing youth participation in flag football is helping to expand the sport’s fan base and could perhaps help continue the recent resurgence in boys’ participation in high school tackle football nationally after years of decline.

“We’ve seen an increase in tackle football in high schools over the last year,” O’Reilly said. “So we see them as really complementary when you think about the overall strategy here. So the short answer is yes, we’re seeing the results. There’s certainly more to come. … We see this event, the NFL Flag Championships, as a big milestone along the way. … I think you’re going to see that attention and excitement given the much greater exposure that this is going to have over those three days.”

The NFL has made its Pro Bowl a flag football game (along with a skills competition) and has announced that it will make arrangements to allow interested NFL players to compete in flag football at the LA Olympics in four years. With that in mind, O’Reilly said, the NFL hopes this tournament will become one of the league’s annual main events. It comes at a relatively quiet time in the NFL calendar, just before teams begin training camps in earnest in late July.

“Certainly there’s this shorthand version of a kind of ‘Little League World Series,’ if you will,” O’Reilly said. “But then in the context of this sport that’s growing so quickly. People see it in their communities and see it played with some of the best girls and boys coming together and how fast and really telegenic it is. That’s been the real drive.”