NFL looking to sell media partners on flag football leagues

It’s no secret that the NFL is looking to bring flag football into the mainstream.

From having its own players participate in the sport during the Pro Bowl, to helping it become an Olympic sport for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, it’s clear that the league likes the sport’s prospects.

And now, it looks like the NFL wants to sell its broadcast partners on the sport’s prospects as well.

Speaking with Dan Roberts of Front Office Sports, NFL chief media and business officer Brian Rolapp confirmed the league’s plans to pitch flag football as its own media rights package in the future.

“We do believe as it grows in popularity, that there is room for more leagues, including a professional league, and that would clearly have a media package as well,” Rolapp told FOS.

One of the major benefits of flag football, according to the league, is that its female fans have an opportunity to participate in a way that doesn’t exist with tackle football.

“We’re big believers in flag football for a lot of reasons,” Rolapp said. “It’s clearly going to be an Olympic sport. So we think it has international potential. One of the greatest things about flag football is half of our fans right now are female—but don’t really have access to playing the game competitively. We are now providing that.”

Rolapp still says that any potential professional flag football league is still in its early stages. That said, unlike other upstart leagues, the NFL has the scale to turbocharge any league it puts its weight behind. In practice, that likely means getting some of its current media partners on board with airing a package of games.

Currently, the NFL hasn’t publicized any exact timeline regarding a flag football league. But given it’s spot in the upcoming Summer Olympics three years from now, it’s safe to say the league would like to give the sport more exposure before then.