Continuing the growth of flag football has long been a priority for the NFL. In October, commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed a professional league would be established in the relatively near future. 
Not long afterwards, funding was approved for creating a league, with the NFL’s 32 Equity investment arm being cleared to join with a to-be-determined partner. Nothing had been revealed since then until an announcement which was made on Monday. TMRW Sports has been selected as the NFL’s partner with respect to launching a flag league for men and women.
A long list of individual investors and equity groups are contributing to the new league, in addition to the $32MM maximum which will be provided by the NFL’s clubs themselves. Pro Football Hall of Famers Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Steve Young and Larry Fitzgerald are investing, with the same also being true of the likes of Tom Brady and Eli Manning. Active players Arik Armstead, Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson are on the list of investors as well; so too are Billie Jean King, Serena Williams and others.
“As the flag football movement continues its explosive global growth, a professional flag league completes the pathway for elite athletes to compete at every level of the game, from youth to high school and college, to the Olympic stage, and now professionally,” a statement from NFL EVP Troy Vincent reads in part. “Selecting TMRW Sports represents an important step in our long-term commitment to growing flag football and supporting the world-class athletes driving its momentum.”
TMRW Sports played a leading role in the establishment of TGL, the primetime team golf league recently launched in partnership with the PGA. The group will now turn its attention to helping create a pro flag football league, a logical final step in the NFL’s long-running efforts to grow that version of the game. This news comes, of course, with the Los Angeles Olympics approaching.
The 2028 L.A. Games will mark the debut of flag football as an Olympic sport. Work is ongoing to ensure NFL players will be able to compete in the event, and the league will be heavily involved in creating a professional flag football environment along a similar timeline as well.
Honestly, would be genius, slightly different enough game that the skillset is different enough that you’re not just watching NFL rejects but rather ppl who may truly be the best flag football position player alive. Would be more inclined to watch than XFL/UFL, plus seems like youth leagues are almost exclusively FF now, so attracts new younger viewers
The theory that the wealthier a person becomes the dumber they become, may have merits after all. I’m certainly not a member of the wealth club but investing in flag football strikes me as an idea possibly worse than investing in a pregnancy test kit for men 🙂