The NFL will partner with TMRW Sports to start a professional flag football league for men and women, the league announced Monday.
The flag league will launch with support from an investor pool that includes NFL clubs, established institutional and strategic investors and current and former NFL players. Former NFL players Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Larry Fitzgerald, Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Justin Tuck, Ryan Nece and Dhani Jones, and current players Arik Armstead, Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson are investing in the league.
Billie Jean King, Ilana Kloss, Alex Morgan and Serena Williams are other investors.
“The dream of the National Football League started as a flag player, and to be able to see just where the game has grown [is really exciting],” Fitzgerald said. “This is going to be a proving ground for all those young players. . . . I’m really excited about the future of flag football in our country.”
TMRW Sports was chosen following an evaluation process involving multiple potential operators and concluded with NFL clubs authorizing 32 Equity, the member clubs’ investment vehicle, to approve an investment of up to $32 million to support the launch and operation of a professional flag football league.
Flag football is one of the world’s fastest-growing sports, with approximately 20 million players worldwide. The new professional league completes a pathway that spans youth play, high school and collegiate programs, professional competition and ultimately the Olympics at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
Youth flag football now has approximately 4.1 million players in the U.S., a more than 50 percent increase since 2020. Flag football is now offered at the high school level in 39 states, with the number of young women playing on their high school teams increasing by nearly 60 percent from 2024 to 2025.
The NFL and TMRW Sports will continue to advance league design and operational planning in the coming months, with a launch timeline expected to align with the run-up to the 2028 Olympics.
