The University of Nebraska Athletic Department announced today the addition of Women’s Flag Football as a women’s intercollegiate varsity sport. The announcement coincides with the NCAA’s approval of women’s flag football as an NCAA Emerging Sport for Women.
The addition of women’s flag football to Nebraska’s list of sports offerings gives the Huskers 25 intercollegiate programs, including 15 women’s teams and 10 men’s teams. Flag football is the first sport Nebraska has added since beach volleyball began competition in the spring of 2013.
Nebraska is the first Power Four Conference school to announce the addition of women’s flag football. The Huskers will play their inaugural competitive flag football season in the spring of 2028, with the season running from January to May. Nebraska will immediately begin the process of searching for a head coach and building a roster this spring, with plans to have a coach hired by summer and recruit a roster of approximately 15 players by the start of the fall 2026 semester.
“This is a banner day for Nebraska Athletics and for women’s sports,” Nebraska Director of Athletics Troy Dannen said. “In a time of uncertainty and change in college athletics, creating new participation opportunities continues Nebraska’s rich history of elevating women’s athletics. Flag football is one of the nation’s fastest growing sports and has exploded in popularity at the youth, high school and collegiate level. There is also great synergy in our first season in 2028 aligning with the inclusion of flag football at the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.”
As of the summer of 2025, NCAA sponsorship data showed that at least 40 NCAA schools planned to sponsor in the 2025-26 academic year, with the possibility of as many as 60 schools participating this spring. The NCAA expects sponsorships to continue to increase.
“Congratulations to the University of Nebraska and the NCAA for taking this significant step in support of women’s flag football,” said Big Ten Conference Commissioner Tony Petitti. “We are happy to see Nebraska provide additional opportunities for student-athletes to compete at the highest level.”
The growth of flag football extends beyond the collegiate ranks. Flag football is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, with 20 million players worldwide, and will make its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028.
Recently, NFL clubs voted to support financially the development and launch of a professional flag football league. Flag football is now offered at a high school level in 38 states. All 32 NFL clubs support and participate in youth flag football programming in their home markets and beyond, further strengthening the sport’s reach and appeal among the next generation of athletes.
“The University of Nebraska’s launch of a women’s flag football team marks a groundbreaking moment for collegiate athletics,” said Troy Vincent Sr., NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations. “As the first Power Four Division I program to embrace this opportunity, the University of Nebraska and Athletic Director Troy Dannen are true pioneers in elevating flag football to even greater heights. Their leadership sends a powerful message about the future of the sport and the limitless possibilities for young women to compete at the highest level.”
To be legislatively considered for an NCAA championship, sports in the Emerging Sports for Women program must be sponsored at the varsity level by at least 40 schools, based on the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates data, and must meet their sport’s minimum competition and participant requirements. If legislation is adopted, the NCAA governance structure works to establish a championship. That process can take two years or longer to work through logistics such as budgeting, site selection and other details.
Nebraska hosted a women’s flag exhibition game last season as part of the Husker Games weekend, with a group of intramural athletes from UNL taking on Midland University’s varsity flag football team.
Nebraska Flag Football Q&A
When will the first season of Nebraska Flag Football be played?
Spring of 2028
When is the women’s flag football season played and how many games will be played?
Women’s flag football is a spring sport, with a minimum of 12 games per season (maximum is 24).
Will Nebraska recognize this as a varsity sport, and will student-athletes receive scholarships and athletic department support?
Yes, this will be Nebraska’s 25th varsity sport, 15 for women and 10 for men. Flag football is the first sport Nebraska has added since beach volleyball in January of 2013.
Women’s flag football students will receive the same student-athlete support services as other Husker student-athletes.
When do you plan to hire a coach? Will there be assistant coaches?
The goal is to have a head coach in place this summer, hopefully by June or July and the assistant coach in place shortly thereafter.
How many players are on a roster and when will the roster be filled?
Nebraska plans to fill its roster quickly after a coach is hired and hopes to have approximately 15 players on a roster by the fall of 2026. The roster will increase to 20 or 25 players for the 2027-28 academic year, our first competitive season.
How many players will be on scholarship in women’s flag football? When will athletes first be on scholarship?
The plan is to have 15 scholarships available in the first year (2026-27) with the number of scholarships increasing to 20 in year 2 and 25 in year 3. The addition of these scholarships will help Nebraska achieve a long-standing goal of Title IX proportionality.
What schools do you expect Nebraska to play?
With the NCAA’s announcement of flag football as an emerging sport, it is expected that several schools will add this as a varsity sport in the coming months. Nebraska can now begin discussing a schedule for our inaugural season, starting with Division I schools with existing flag football programs, and engaging with other programs as they add the sport.
What happens over the next two years before the team plays in 2028?
The focus will be on preparing for our inaugural season in the spring of 2028. That includes recruitment of the initial roster of athletes, followed by practice sessions starting this fall. There is the possibility of informal competitions in the spring of 2027.
There is also a need to identify and build out office space and locker rooms, and schedule competitions for Spring 2028.
Where will you play home games? How many home games per season do you expect?
To be determined. Preliminary discussions have focused on a couple of our facilities that might be used for home games.
What is the size of the playing field?
The playing field for flag football is 80 x 40 yards.
What are the playing rules?
Games consist of 4, 12-minute quarters.
Players wear flag belts with sockets and 2 pop-up flags on either side of their hips.
Teams score 6 points for a touchdown, and after a TD can gain an extra 1 or 2 points with a set play from the 5 or 10-yard line.
