NFL Enlists Caitlin Clark to Help Shape Flag Football’s Future

Even the world’s most dominant sports league is taking full notice of the Caitlin Clark phenomenon.

The NFL is bringing the WNBA superstar to its annual meeting next week in Palm Beach, Fla., to participate in a panel discussion on women’s sports and the league’s aspirations around flag football. Clark will participate in the session for NFL team owners and personnel along with tennis icon Serena Williams, former Giants quarterback and current front-office staffer Eli Manning, and Broncos co-owner Mellody Hobson.

Flag football is a key initiative for the NFL, and the sport has gained entry into the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. It’s also a critical youth participation initiative involving both boys and girls. The NFL has also shown keen interest in professional flag football teams for both men and women. 

“Flag football is a high priority of ours. It’s an opportunity for young women to participate in our game … and as we look forward, there definitely seems to be an appetite and interest in a professional flag league for both men and women,” said NFL EVP Jeff Miller in response to a Front Office Sports question at a briefing previewing the meeting. “So it’s a continuation of the growth in women’s sports, and the role that the NFL can play in it.”

Clark’s historic ascent through college basketball and now the WNBA has included a still-ongoing bevy of viewership records, increased national exposure, team construction projects, and moves of Indiana Fever games to larger venues.

“We don’t get an opportunity to talk about this enough, just the explosion of women in sports,” said Troy Vincent, NFL EVP of football operations. “This is happening across the globe, and we want to continue that conversation among our membership.”

Williams is a part-owner of the Dolphins, while Clark has also shown interest in eventual NFL team ownership. 

More Rule Changes?

The NFL, meanwhile, detailed a series of potential rules changes that will be considered at the annual meeting, following a previously disclosed set of team-based proposals. Among the possible shifts coming from the league’s competition committee: 

• A change in kickoff touchbacks from the receiving team’s 30-yard line to the 35. The intent is to disincentivize teams from kicking the ball into the end zone and increase the number of returned kickoffs dramatically—while doing so within the confines of the dynamic kickoff introduced last year that reduced player injuries. The proposed change would also make the dynamic kickoff elements permanent after a one-year trial in 2024. 
• An alteration in onside kick rules to allow that any time the kicking team is trailing. Currently, onside kicks are permitted only in the fourth quarter. The proposed change would still require onside kicks to be declared in advance. 
• A proposed expansion of instant replay to allow replay officials to aid on-field officials in overruling certain objective calls such as facemark penalties and horse-collar tackles. 

Like the team-based proposals, passage of the proposals will require support from at least 24 of 32 team owners.

“The special teams working group would say they think the kickoff return number will be between 60% and 70%, as opposed to 33%, where we ended last year,” said Rich McKay, Falcons CEO and co-chair of the competition committee, about the proposed touchback change. “They see this going up substantially because of that yardage difference.”