Fiesta Sports Foundation Establishes National Collegiate Flag Football Classic
Fiesta Sports Foundation is establishing a national collegiate flag football tournament for the upcoming spring 2026 season. The inaugural Fiesta Bowl Flag Football Classic presented by Oakley will feature eight NCAA Division I teams and take place on Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19.
The two-day event will feature Alabama State, Arizona State, Central Florida, Charlotte, Florida, Georgia, Grand Canyon, and USC. The teams will be separated into groups of four and play a round robin on the first day. The results will determine the seeding for the playoff bracket, which will feature all eight teams. The playoff games will then take place on Sunday, April 19, to determine the first Fiesta Bowl Flag Football Classic champion. All games will take place at Arizona State's Fields at Dorsey in Tempe, Arizona.
Fiesta Sports Foundation also organizes the Fiesta Bowl and seeks to provide the same experience to the women's flag football athletes that the men's teams receive. This will include premium accommodations, curated hospitality experiences, and gifts. Fiesta Sports Foundation Executive Director & CEO Erik Moses states:
“For more than 50 years, Fiesta Sports Foundation has been focused on innovation, hospitality and creating unforgettable experiences. Creating the Fiesta Bowl Flag Football Classic presented by Oakley is the next step of that mission. As flag football continues its rapid ascent nationwide, bringing forth the first-ever national college event for the ever-growing Division 1 community helps to elevate the collegiate game, celebrate these student-athletes and shape the future of the sport on a national stage.
From youth and high school programs to now the collegiate level, we are committed to helping flag football grow in a meaningful and sustainable way. This tournament is about building a tradition, creating opportunity and providing these athletes an elite experience.”
Flag football is seeing rapid growth at all levels. The NFL has helped grow the sport at the youth levels, from the annual NFL Flag Championships to the high school level, where 38 governing bodies have sanctioned flag football or launched a pilot program. The NFL's goal is for the sport to become sanctioned in high school in all 50 states. Internationally, flag football will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Growth has been robust at the collegiate level as well. New teams have been announced steadily over the past two years, but the NCAA voted to add flag football to the Emerging Sports for Women program earlier in January. Within hours of all three NCAA Divisions adding it, Nebraska became the first school from the Power 4 Conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC) to add a varsity flag football team.
Following Nebraska's lead, fellow D-I programs Charleston Southern and Manhattan will also be adding varsity programs. Over 150 NCAA club and varsity flag football teams are slated to compete in the spring 2026 season. That number is expected to eclipse 200 as soon as the 2027 spring season, as the momentum from the NCAA's convention continues.