NCAA Division I Adds Flag Football To Emerging Sports for Women Program
The NCAA is one step closer to making flag football a championship sport. The NCAA Division I Cabinet unanimously passed a resolution that adds flag football to the Emerging Sports for Women program. The emerging sport status takes effect immediately, starting with the 2026 spring season. NCAA Division II and III will vote on their respective recommendations later this week.
To be included in the program, flag football must meet the NCAA definition of a "sport," have at least 20 active club or varsity programs among NCAA members, and another 10 schools must commit to sponsoring the sport. In NCAA Division I, over 50 club teams are participating in the 2025-26 academic year. Across the entire NCAA, more than 60 NCAA schools have a varsity flag football program that will compete in the upcoming 2026 spring season. Nearly 100 NCAA schools also have a club program.
The first step in the process was receiving a recommendation to join the program, which occurred in January 2025 at the NCAA Convention. In April 2025, NCAA Divisions II and III took the next step by proposing that the sport join the program. NCAA Division I made the same proposal, and later discussed it further in October 2025. A total of 40 varsity teams are required across the NCAA to establish a national collegiate championship for women's sports, along with minimum contest requirements.
Six sports have previously entered the Emerging Sports for Women program and ultimately reached NCAA Championship status: beach volleyball, bowling, ice hockey, rowing, water polo, and wrestling. Women's wrestling was added as an NCAA championship sport in January 2025 and will contest its first tournament during the 2025-26 academic year. Acrobatics and Tumbling and STUNT are also expected to receive NCAA championship status in January 2026, and begin conducting championships in the 2026-27 academic year. The D-I cabinet approved championships for both acrobatics and tumbling and STUNT at the convention, but the measure requires D-II and D-III approval for it to become official.
All three divisions provided detailed proposals in 2025 about how the women's flag football playing season will look. Some rules will be similar across all three divisions, such as each varsity flag football team will have a minimum of 12 contests. A maximum of three contests against club teams count towards the minimum of 12.
The NCAA Division I proposal listed the start of the season to be no earlier than September 1 or the school's first day of classes, whichever occurs first. NCAA Division I programs have a maximum of 24 regular season games, with conference tournaments and postseason championships not counting toward this maximum. D-I programs will be allowed a maximum of 4 coaches.
The NCAA Division II proposal included a maximum of 10 scholarships, noted by the NCAA as "value of financial aid awards." D-II institutions typically spread the maximum financial aid across the entire team, but schools have discretion to give scholarships as they see fit. The D-II proposal also lists a maximum of a 132-day season, matching the D-I side.
The NCAA Division III proposal wasn't nearly as detailed, due in part to the fact that athletic aid is not allowed and the division's academic-based ethos. As with D-I and D-II, there is a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 24 regular season contests. There is also a maximum of 3 games against club teams that can be counted towards the 12-game minimum.