NFL Pro Flag Leagues Set for 2027 Launch
The National Football League has updated its timeline for the launch of its men's and women's professional flag football leagues. The new leagues are set to launch in "late spring-summer" 2027. The NFL previously stated it would launch in the run-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, but did not provide a concrete timetable. NFL Executive Vice President Peter O'Reilly announced the 2027 window on the Up & Adams Show hosted by Kay Adams.
"We're in the lab, if you will, on really building what that league's going to be like. It will likely launch in late spring-summer next year and doing all the things that you do when you launch a league. Thinking about what's the structure of it, where are we playing games, how does it roll out?
It's incredibly exciting to be having conversations with the athletes who are going to play in this league, who maybe dreamed one day that there might be a professional flag league, and now we're saying this is real. There's going to be a combine for this pro flag league, there's going to be a draft, there's going to be an opportunity to play this sport at the highest level, and that's going to be awesome.
Certainly, on the women's side, this will be the best of the best from around the world playing in this professional flag league. We'll get to know them even more during the Olympics in LA 28 and then it'll build on it from there."
The NFL has moved quickly in the past six months to get the flag football league off the ground. In December 2025, the NFL owners allowed the league to invest up to $32 million to launch a flag football league via its collective investment vehicle, 32 Equity. In February 2026, the NFL selected TMRW Sports as the operator of the new league and made the official announcement in March.
The NFL has spared no expense in building flag football from the youth level all the way up to the soon-to-launch flag league. The NFL FLAG has led to increased participation at the youth levels, which has spurred 23 high school associations to sanction flag football as a varsity sport. The skyrocketing participation led to incredible growth in collegiate flag football.
At the college level, the NCAA added flag football to the Emerging Sports for Women program in January 2026. It is expected that flag football will reach championship sport status in 2028. The NAIA is likely to make it a Championship Sport in 2028 as well. Nearly 400 club and varsity flag football teams are expected to compete during the 2026-27 academic year.
The pathway from the youth level to high school to college has led to the professional flag football league. The NFL was successful in getting flag football added to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The sport's Olympic debut will occur during the first week, with the medal games set for Friday, July 21, and Saturday, July 22.