With the NFL asserting its monopoly in football across the USA, the global league is planning a tournament to set up a mega venture for flag football ahead of the upcoming 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The NFL has been one of the biggest endorsers of flag football and played a key role in the sport’s entry as a Summer Games event. Now, to ensure the growth of flag football, Roger Goodell and Co. are planning a pro league for both men and women in late spring or early summer 2027.

“We’re in the lab, if you will, of really building what that league’s going to be like,” Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business, international and league events, told host Kay Adams. “Thinking about what’s the structure of it, where are we playing games, how does it roll out? Incredibly exciting to be having conversations with the athletes who are going to play in this league, who maybe dreamed one day there might be a professional flag league, and now we’re saying, ‘This is real.'”

Flag football is among the world’s fastest-growing sports, with 20 million participants at youth, men’s, and women’s levels across 100 countries. Furthermore, team owners across the league also consider the sport as a method for growing pro football’s popularity worldwide. Earlier reports about this league revealed a launch planned for 2028, just before the Summer Olympics.

Several NFL players are huge endorsers of the league, including Russell Wilson. During his time with the Seattle Seahawks, he ran his own flag football league, which was backed by the franchise.

“It’s really important for kids to use an experience like NFL FLAG to learn, build relationships, get smarter, challenge themselves to be better, get outside—to do all of these things,” Wilson said.

In March, the NFL announced a partnership with TMRW Sports for the development and operation of a professional flag football league. TMRW Sports played a crucial role in launching the alternative golf league, TGL, which concluded after a successful first season.

The Pro flag football is also expected to have strong financial backing of $32 million from NFL owners and an investor pool that includes current and former NFL players, including Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Young, Justin Tuck, Ryan Nece, Dhani Jones, Arik Armstead, Bobby Wagner, and Russell Wilson, per The Athletic.

Similarly, legends of women’s sports like Billie Jean King, Ilana Kloss, Alex Morgan, and Serena Williams will also join as investors. Furthermore, the league has brought on institutional investors as well, which means its well backed.

While this pro flag football, created by the NFL, has immense potential, especially with 20 million participants at youth, men’s, and women’s levels across 100 countries, one of the first movers in the space, the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, is facing a massive problem after an incredible first event.

Tom Brady-led Fanatics Flag Football Faces Uncertain Future

NFL legend Tom Brady and Fanatics collaborated to present fans with a real taste of this exciting new sport with their Fanatics Flag Football Classic. The event was at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California, and generated a viewership of 650,000 on Fox. The Classic included current and former NFL players like Rob Gronkowski, Joe Burrow, and Jayden Daniels alongside content creators like IShowSpeed and Logan Paul and the USA Men’s Flag Football team, who won the event.

However, even before the first snap, the event faced multiple off-field problems, starting with its relocation from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia. Now, looking forward to the future of this venture by Brady and Fanatics, things are looking uncertain.

“EXCLUSIVE: Saudi Arabia’s funding for Fanatics and Tom Brady’s flag football event is in peril, sources tell FOS,” Front Office Sports reported via X before revealing what’s next for the event. “Fanatics still plans to produce the annual event, regardless of Saudi funding. The sides disagreed over March’s event relocation amid the Middle East conflict.”

The Fanatics Flag Football Classic was deemed to be a promotional venture for Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA). But the event was moved to Los Angeles after the war, leading to heightened military action in the Middle East. Despite the conflict, FOS claims Saudi Arabian officials pushed for postponing the event, which didn’t align with Fanatics.

“Fanatics and Saudi Arabia officials were at odds about moving the event, with the latter preferring to postpone it and host it in Riyadh once the geopolitical situation cools down, sources said,” the report by FOS’s Ryan Glasspiegel added.

Despite the issues faced by the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, the plan for the NFL’s pro flag football league seems to be progressing well. With a 2027 launch on the horizon, billions in investment, and the 2028 Olympics serving as the perfect stage, the sport is on the verge of a breakthrough. If the league delivers on its promise, flag football could be a global phenomenon like traditional football.