• Loading stock data...
Friday, August 8, 2025
Tuned In returns to NYC on September 16. Hear from the biggest names in sports media. Click here to get your spot

NFL Wants to Sell Media Rights for Men’s, Women’s Flag Football Leagues

Ahead of the sport’s 2028 Olympic debut, the NFL wants to launch a men’s and women’s flag football league—and sell a media package airing the games.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The NFL seems to conjure lucrative, new media rights out of thin air. Look for the league to eventually open bidding on another possible new package: professional flag football.

In his annual state-of-the-league address during Super Bowl week, commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL is considering the establishment of a pro flag football league—or potentially, two pro flag leagues for men and women.

During an interview with Front Office Sports, NFL media czar Brian Rolapp confirmed the league could sell new media rights to flag football beyond its current 11-year cycle of rights worth a monster $111 billion.

“We do believe as it grows in popularity, that there is room for more leagues, including a professional league, and that would clearly have a media package as well,” Rolapp told FOS editor-in-chief Dan Roberts. “We’re very early in this. The commissioner talked about it. … So I think we’re pretty bullish on it.”

The NFL is smartly using flag football as a way to sell the sport to women and girls, notes ProFootballTalk.  Rolapp, the NFL’s chief media and business officer, noted his league has several reasons to be intrigued by the potential of pro flag football.

First, flag football will make its Olympic debut in 2028. That’s a big opportunity for the NFL to plant its brand around the globe. Second, the league has attracted millions of new female fans, many of them Swifties following the romance between pop superstar Taylor Swift and Chiefs star Travis Kelce. The NFL wants to keep those newcomers happy and interested.

“We’re big believers in flag football for a lot of reasons. It’s clearly going to be an Olympic sport. So we think it has international potential. One of the greatest things about flag football is half of our fans right now are female—but don’t really have access to playing the game competitively. We are now providing that,” Rolapp said. 

“And some of the most exciting things happening across the country is more and more states are sanctioning flag football as a high school sport, which I think is fantastic. And so we love this long-term for the development of the sport in general.”

Dan Cohen, EVP of media rights advisory at Octagon, likes the idea of the NFL pushing flag football toward potential new fans and viewers. 

“Any time you can expand the sport, and bring people under the tent that drives fan growth, it’s a plus. However, not all fan growth initiatives can be strictly a cost/profit project. In this current media environment, the NFL would be challenged to make a profit on this project in the early years,” he said.

According to Cohen, the most likely suitors for a flag football package would be existing league media partners with a streaming platform. They include: NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, Google/YouTube TV, and Netflix. 

But he added: “This all changes if the NFL is able to convince existing sponsors to incrementally spend on the new league and that comes with media must-spends. In this scenario I could see a few linear windows opening up for perhaps the first game and some playoffs.”

There’s a big difference between the average start-up league and a league backed by the financial and marketing might of the NFL, noted Doug Perlman, founder and CEO of Sports Media Advisors.

“Any new league is going to have a tough time finding a rights fee in general—until you’ve proven you have an audience and a following. But obviously if it’s backed by the NFL, there’s a presumption of success. One, because they have so much executive talent. Two, because people are going to want to be in business with them. I don’t think they’d get a big rights fee up front. But it’s something they could build over time.”

It’s also smart for the NFL, added Perlman, to target families who might not sign up for the more dangerous sport of traditional tackle football. 

“Obviously, you have some parents worried about injuries. Or the kids are just unable to play tackle football for whatever reason. But by playing flag they learn the game of football, they know what the language is. They know what the strategies are. I think it’s going to be great for the league on many levels. The people that have played it are not just going to watch a new NFL flag football league. They’re going to watch the NFL, too.”

With NFL stars now playing flag football at the Pro Bowl, the fast-growing sport is having a moment. Flag football is now played by 20 million people in more than 100 countries worldwide.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about the NFL, it’s that any time they put a package up for sale, blue-chip suitors fall over themselves to bid. We’re about to find out if that extends to a new league.

Incidentally, ESPN became the rights partner for the new NFL Flag Championships in 2024. ESPN televises both the NFL’s Monday Night Football and the new annual summer showcase for boys and girls playing flag football. 

Just sayin’.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

WNBA

Crypto Group Says It’s Behind WNBA Dildo Epidemic

The group backs a memecoin that launched last week.
Etienne

A ‘College Football RedZone’ Is an ESPN Gold Mine—in Theory

The network would have to strike new deals with its rivals.

More Dildo Throwing During WNBA Games Leads to Second Arrest

The 18-year-old threw a dildo that hit another fan and his young niece.

Featured Today

Inked Under Anesthesia: Athletes Getting $50,000 Tattoos

High-end studios, elite artist teams, and hours under anesthesia.
Coco Gauff at New York Liberty
August 2, 2025

How the New York Liberty Became the Hottest Ticket in Town

Once banished to the burbs, the Libs are now Brooklyn’s marquee attraction.
Las Vegas sign
July 29, 2025

College Sports Embracing Vegas After Years of Cold Shoulder

The Big Ten became the latest newcomer to Sin City.
2000, Jupiter, FL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Montreal Expos pitcher Hideki Irabu in action on the mound against the New York Mets at Roger Dean Stadium during Spring Training
July 28, 2025

Dead Sports Franchises Are Alive and Well on Twitter

The Expos, Sonics, and Whalers have active social media accounts.

More RedZones? 10 Burning Questions With ESPN’s Pitaro and NFL’s Schroeder

The execs behind the landmark ESPN-NFL deal sat down with FOS.
August 5, 2025

Disney Buying NFL Network, NFL Getting 10% Stake in ESPN

The deal rewrites the playbook for pro leagues and their TV partners.
Oct 3, 2021; Inglewood, California, USA; A general overall view of the NFL Network building adjacent to SoFi Stadium.
exclusive
August 6, 2025

ESPN Taking Over NFL Network’s Lease Near SoFi Stadium

The network is picking up a little real estate in its mega-deal.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

Dealmaker Jeffrey Kaplan maps the evolution of sports as an asset class
Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; President Donald Trump leaves the field after participating in a meet and greet with the honorary coin toss participants including family members of the victims from the terrorist attack, members of the New Orleans Police Department, and emergency personnel before Super Bowl LIX between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs at Ceasars Superdome.
August 5, 2025

Why the NFL-ESPN Deal Is ‘Political Catnip’ for Trump

The president has a history of using media mergers for leverage.
August 4, 2025

ESPN’s Ryan Clark: Haters Are Viewers, Too

“Get them to hate what you say … enough that they’ll tune in.”
opinion
August 2, 2025

ESPN-NFL Deal Still Contends With a Wild Card: Trump’s Approval

Negotiations between the NFL and Disney have been ongoing for four years
July 31, 2025

Comcast Bets Big on Sports, but NBA Price Tag Looms Large

The NBC Sports parent company is absorbing the impacts of adding the NBA.