National Football League (NFL) owners have given the green light to finance the development of and launch a new professional flag football league.
Clubs voted in favour of the move during the NFL’s virtual December meeting, authorising the league’s 32 Equity investment arm to secure an operating partner for the competition and spend up to US$32 million on the venture.
Bloomberg previously reported that the NFL was choosing between TMRW Sports, the technology venture backed by golf greats Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, and a consortium led by former running back Curtis Martin and including Marc Lasry to partner with on operating its flag football league.
The NFL did not say when the league will launch or provide other specific details, but commissioner Roger Goodell has said previously that he there is a commitment to create the competition “in the next couple of years”.
That would mean the league would be up and running in time for flag football’s Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028, which is expected to be a springboard for a sport which already claims to have 20 million players globally.
SportsPro first reported in April last year that the NFL and global governing body the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) were looking at creating professional flag football leagues to accelerate the sport’s development ahead of the Games.
“Today’s vote represents a critical step in establishing flag football as a premier global sport,” said Troy Vincent Sr, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations. “We are developing the infrastructure to accelerate the game’s growth to new heights by creating a clear pathway for aspiring athletes to progress from youth and high school programmes through college and now to the professional level.
“We look forward to forming a partnership to bring this vision to life and deliver a world-class professional flag football experience for elite athletes and fans alike.”
Meanwhile, the NFL has also confirmed that it will return to Munich in 2026 and 2028 as part of a multi-year deal with the German city and Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
The deal will see regular season fixtures played at Bayern’s 75,000-seater Allianz Arena, which staged Germany’s first NFL game in 2022 before hosting another fixture in 2024.
Germany is a key international market for the NFL, which also took a pair of games to Frankfurt in 2023 and visited Berlin for the first time in November this year. The German capital will also host matches in 2027 and 2029.
“Germany is of huge strategic importance for the NFL in Europe, and our return to Munich signals the league’s long-term commitment to playing games in the market,” said NFL DACH general manager Alexander Steinforth.
“As the first host of regular season games in Germany, Munich holds a very special place in the hearts of our fans and we look forward to continuing to create memorable experiences for them while building a year-round NFL presence across this city and country.”
Germany is the fourth international destination confirmed for the 2026 NFL regular season, which will also see one game held at Australia’s Melbourne Cricket Ground, one fixture staged in Rio de Janeiro and a pair of matches hosted by Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Combining richer content, in-depth data and exclusive community benefits, SportsPro+ is your VIP pass into the global sports industry. .
