NFL, TMRW Sports joining forces to create professional flag football league

The NFL announced Monday it has joined forces with TMRW Sports to launch a professional flag football league for women and men.

TMRW Sports is the group, co-founded by Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, that partnered with the PGA Tour to create TGL, the made-for-TV golf league that uses technology to bring top pros together under one roof to compete for prime-time audiences.

The NFL revealed that through 32 Equity, the member clubs' investment vehicle, it will plunk up to $32 million into this venture, which also features investment from big names throughout the sports world. Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Tom Brady, Eli Manning and Russell Wilson are among the former and current quarterbacks involved. Billie Jean King, Serena Williams and Alex Morgan also are part of the investment group.

"As the flag football movement continues its explosive global growth, a professional flag league completes the pathway for elite athletes to compete at every level of the game, from youth to high school and college, to the Olympic stage, and now professionally," Troy Vincent Sr., the NFL's Executive Vice President of Football Operations, said in a statement.

"The momentum behind women's sports has never been stronger, and flag football is poised to play a major role in that continued growth," Billie Jean King said in a statement. "This new professional league will build on that progress by giving elite women athletes the stage they deserve to showcase their skills and shape the sport's global trajectory."

This partnership begins as interest in flag football continues to mushroom in the United States and across the globe.

The number of youths playing flag football in the U.S. alone has seen a more than 50% increase since 2020 to approximately 4.1 million players, per the NFL. High school girls in 39 states compete in flag football. The University of Nebraska just created the NCAA's first varsity flag football team, and the NCAA recently approved legislation that should accelerate this trend.

The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is set to welcome flag football competition for the first time. The NFL and TMRW Sports plan for the new league to ramp up in a timely fashion that capitalizes on interest in the next Olympics.

"As the elite competitive tier of flag football, this league will mark a new era for the sport as the world's best compete in a fast-paced format that aligns with the evolving media consumption of today's sports fans," TMRW Sports founder and CEO Mike McCarley said in a statement.

--Field Level Media