The Fanatics Flag Football Classic is moving from Saudi Arabia to Los Angeles, and Fox is getting a four-and-a-half-hour block out of it.
The event was originally scheduled for Kingdom Arena in Riyadh as part of the country’s Riyadh Season festivities, but ongoing U.S. military operations in the Middle East — including war with Iran — forced a venue change. It will now be held at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on its original date, Saturday, March 21, and will air live on Fox, Fox One, and Tubi from 4-8:30 p.m. ET, and will be hosted by Kevin Hart and comedian Druski.
The telecast is being handled by Fox Sports, with the event produced by Fanatics Studios — the joint venture between Fanatics and OBB Media — in association with Shadow Lion, Tom Brady’s production company. Fox took an equity stake in Shadow Lion last October, with Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks specifically citing the Fanatics Flag Football Classic as a key part of that collaboration at the time of the deal. The relocation from Riyadh to Los Angeles means the first major output of that partnership is landing on Fox’s main broadcast channel, at the venue where flag football will make its Olympic debut, rather than airing from overseas on a Saturday afternoon.
That venue is BMO Stadium, which is where flag football debuts at the LA28 Summer Games. The March 21 event will be played under the same modified Olympic rules, with five players per side, a 50×25-yard field, and two 15-minute halves with a running clock. When NFL owners voted last May to allow players to participate in the 2028 Olympics, it raised a genuine question about what the actual Team USA roster would look like — and what it meant for the flag football players who had been competing at the highest level long before the NFL decided the sport was worth promoting. Saturday’s event puts both groups on the same field, at the Olympic venue, two years out from LA28.
The event will feature three 12-player teams in a round-robin tournament, with the top two advancing to a championship. Tom Brady and Jalen Hurts captain Founders FFC, coached by Broncos head coach Sean Payton. Jayden Daniels and Joe Burrow are captains of the Wildcats FFC, coached by 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. The two teams will hold a draft on Wednesday, March 18, to fill out their rosters from a pool of 24 current and former NFL stars, with Saquon Barkley, Myles Garrett, Rob Gronkowski, Odell Beckham Jr., and Logan Paul among those available. New Tennessee Titans head coach Robert Saleh will serve as a defensive specialist for both squads, while newly minted Pro Football Hall of Famers Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald serve as commissioners.
The U.S. Men’s National Team rounds out the field, captained by Aamir Brown and Darrell “Housh” Doucette and coached by Jorge Cascudo, after the national team asked to be included in a social media post last week, and Brady responded publicly.
I like the sound of that @usafootball – DM me and we’ll get it set up. Just know there’s no turning back https://t.co/CNxDu3F2bO
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) March 7, 2026
It’s also Brady’s first time back on a football field since his retirement in February 2023, which feels like a fitting place to start.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.