Great strides have also been made in promoting the sport at the professional level.
The NFL announced in March a partnership with TMRW Sports, notable investors and numerous athletes to launch a professional flag football league for men and women. Supporters included great football players past and present, such as Joe Montana, Steve Young, Larry Fitzgerald, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Bobby Wagner and Arik Armstead, but also legendary women from many sports: Serena Williams, Billie Jean King, Ilana Kloss and Alex Morgan.
The league will be the key to the continued development of football, strengthening the path for players from youth level to university and through to the pros.
Equally important and equally symbolic of flag football becoming an increasingly global game is the IFAF World Cup. A record 31 teams participated in the last World Cup. The 2026 event, which features the top 16 men’s and women’s national teams and serves as a qualifier for the ’28 Olympics, will take place in Düsseldorf, Germany on 13-16. August
Excitement for flag football continues to reach and rebuild all-time highs in anticipation of what will be the sport’s crowning achievement, the 2028 Olympics.
The game will only continue to grow ahead of the event and will surely benefit when the sport is featured in the XXXIV Olympic Games. Perhaps a few players currently rising through the established pipelines will even have a chance to go for gold alongside (or against) some of their favorite NFL athletes.
“Absolutely,” Goodell said when asked if he envisions current or former NFL players participating in the Olympics. “We agreed to it a year ago and I’ve had a lot of players say, ‘We want to be involved.’ It adjusts very well because it is for camp. It will be the first week of the Olympics [in 2028]. These players are competitors and they love the big stage. Winning a gold medal or any medal is something I think they would all appreciate. They talk about it all the time, so I absolutely believe we’re going to have players in the Olympics.”