PHOENIX — The NFL’s plans for a pro flag football league are taking significant shape.
A year after beginning to take inbound interest from potential partners, the league has selected TMRW Sports, the main force behind TGL, to develop and operate a pro flag football league for women and men. Additionally, the NFL has completed pacts with a series of investors that will financially support the new venture. Among them are:
- A collection of retired NFL legends, including Peyton and Eli Manning, Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Larry Fitzgerald, and Justin Tuck, among others. Several active players, including Bobby Wagner, Russell Wilson, and Arik Armstead, have also bought into the venture.
- A series of institutional investors that includes Ariel Investments, Project Level, Bessemer Venture Partners, Blue Pool Capital, Dynasty Equity, Silver Lake, and Sixth Street. Additional investors include Apex Capital, Arctos Partners, Bolt Ventures, Next Legacy Partners, Trenches Capital, Trybe Ventures, and Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six.
- Women’s sports icons Billie Jean King, Ilana Kloss, Alex Morgan, and Serena Williams.
TMRW was chosen to stand the league up after a “competitive” process that included multiple interested operators, the NFL said.
In December, NFL teams voted to invest up to $32 million in total—$1 million per team—to support the league’s development and launch. That vote was unanimous, a source familiar with the matter told Front Office Sports at the time. Total investment by the other investment partners was not disclosed.
“Flag is fundamental to our international strategy, and our overall league strategy,” NFL EVP Peter O’Reilly said at the league’s annual meeting here. “It’s about growing the game, giving access to the sport, to girls and boys, men and women. … It’s been critical to find the right partner, to lock arms with and bring this league to life. We have identified that partner. In their DNA is innovation and technology and building sport.”
The forthcoming league, happening as flag football is slated to be part of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, is contemplated as a spring and summer venture. Several NFL teams, including the Chiefs, have said they would like to be involved, including as potential franchise owners.
Under TMRW’s guidance, TGL recently reached viewership milestones in its second season.
“The momentum behind flag football has been building for decades,” said TMRW founder and CEO Mike McCarley. “The pathway is there, and you see it in the communities. But what’s been missing in that pathway is a professional league.”
International Boom
The NFL is buttressing its unprecedented set of nine international games in the 2026 season with a series of additions to the existing Global Markets Program, now entering its fifth season.
Italy is now part of that effort, with the Browns and Saints gaining rights to that country. The Raiders, meanwhile, have added Canada, the United Arab Emirates, and the U.K. to their set of territories that already includes Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand. The UAE was a new entrant to the Global Markets Program last year.
“We continue to be focused on international in every aspect of what we do,” O’Reilly said. “We see a lot of momentum in this area, really across the board.”
