NCAA Formally Recommends Flag Football Become Championship Sport

The NCAA has formally recommended that flag football become a championship sport. The recommendation is the first step in a multi-step process, but it is likely that the first NCAA flag football championship will occur in 2028.

The NCAA Committee on Access, Opportunity and Impact voted at its 2026 spring meeting to recommend that Division I, II, and III sponsor legislation that would see the addition of a National Collegiate Flag Football Championship. Each division will review the recommendation and can sponsor a proposal by July 1, 2026.

All three divisions will vote on the proposals at the NCAA's next convention in January 2027. All three must approve the legislation establishing a championship, which includes the formation of an NCAA Women's Flag Football Committee. If approved in January 2027, the NCAA projects the first flag football championship would occur in spring 2028.

Jacqie McWilliams Parker, chair of the Committee on Access, Opportunity and Impact and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) commissioner, stated:

"Girls want to play. Whenever you give access and opportunity to an easier way to play, the better the success and numbers in participation you see. The young women who are currently playing at our institutions, some never even thought about being able to play in college. Now they have their opportunity. As we hit the next steps to becoming an NCAA championship, I'm excited we're providing access and opportunity."

All three NCAA Divisions voted to add flag football to the Emerging Sports for Women program in January. The Committee requires that at least 40 schools must sponsor a varsity team for any emerging sport to receive a recommendation to become a championship sport. The NCAA also noted that the funding must be approved before a National Collegiate Championship is established. Approximately 80 NCAA schools sponsored a varsity flag football program for the 2026 season. At least 50 more NCAA schools are expected to launch varsity flag football teams in the 2026-27 academic year.

10 NCAA conferences will sponsor women's flag football during the 2026-27 academic year, with that set to increase beyond the 2027 spring season. The conferences that sponsored flag football this past season included the Division III Atlantic East Conference, D-II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), D-II Conference Carolinas, multi-divisional Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), D-III Empire 8, and D-III United East Conference.

For 2026-27, those six will be joined by the D-III American Southwest Conference, D-II Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), D-III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), and D-II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC). In addition, the D-II CIAA will elevate its sponsorship from club to varsity status.

In the 2027-28 academic year, the D-I Big South Conference will sponsor its first championship. The Big 12 Conference is also looking to sponsor flag football as soon as 2028. Another trio of Division III conferences has also been in the process of sponsoring flag football in the coming years: the Middle Atlantic Conference, the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).

In April, the Fiesta Sports Foundation established the inaugural Fiesta Bowl Flag Football Classic. The event was held on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe and featured 8 NCAA Division I teams competing. The tournament featured 7 club teams and 1 varsity program, with UCF defeating Florida 19-7 in the championship game. The event provided a glimpse into the sport's growth, and flag football is expected to see even more teams and conferences add the sport in the coming weeks, months, and years.