PHOENIX — In what represents another step toward the launching of two professional flag football leagues — one for men and one for women — the NFL announced the selection of TMRW Sports as its developmental and operational partner.
The leagues will launch some time in 2028 in the run-up to the summer Olympics in Los Angeles and with strong financial backing in the form of a $32 million commitment 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. Women’s sports icons Billie Jean King, Ilana Kloss, Alex Morgan and Serena Williams also rank among the team of investors.
Institutional investors that have signed on for the venture include Ariel Investments/Project Level, Bessemer Venture Partners, Blue Pool Capital, Dynasty Equity, Silver Lake and Sixth Street, 776/Alexis Ohanian, APEX Capital, Arctos Partners, Bolt Ventures, Next Legacy Partners, Trenches Capital and Trybe Ventures.
TMRW Sports has made a name for itself through the development and launching of the prime-time team golf league TGL. NFL officials described the selection process as competitive and said that TMRW Sports stood out thanks to its track record of combining technology and new platforms to build modern approaches to sports, media and entertainment.
According to the NFL, flag football ranks among the world’s fastest-growing sports with 20 million participants in youth, men’s and women’s levels across 100 countries. NFL owners view the sport as a tool to continue to grow pro football’s popularity worldwide.
“The pathway is there, and I think a lot of you are seeing that in your communities, where from youth to high school, now in college and in two years at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles,” TMRW Sports founder and CEO Mike McCarley said in a news conference at the NFL league meeting on Monday. “What’s been missing in that pathway is a professional league … where these kids can aspire to go play, and where the athletes who will compete in the Olympics every four years can earn a living and do it in the sport that they grew up chasing and pursuing, that sport that they love. … We are here to help the NFL build this league, and we’ve got a lot of great investors and a lot of great players and athletes from other sports who are going to be very helpful in guiding and helping build this together.”
Despite having settled on its developmental and operational partner and having recruited a strong roster of investment partners, the NFL’s launch plans remain in the infancy stage. Although the goal involves a launch sometime in the run-up to the 2028 Olympic Games, there’s still no firm date. The exact window of competition for the men’s and women’s leagues also remains undetermined, but McCarley estimated that each season would occupy the summer months leading up to the NFL regular season. The flag football portion of the Olympics will take place from July 15-22, and USA Flag Football will require those athletes to take part in a two-week training camp leading up to the Olympics. So, in theory, the pro flag leagues would have to wrap by late June because the brightest stars would likely land spots on the Olympic teams.
McCarley said league officials would work closely with the international Federation of American Football to ensure that these pro leagues would operate under a schedule that aligns closely with those of pro leagues in other countries.
In other global reach-related news, the NFL announced that it has added yet another country to its Global Marketing Program. Italy becomes the 22nd country to form a partnership with the NFL. The New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns now have club marketing rights in that country.
