Rutgers, Valparaiso Adding Flag Football Club Teams
A pair of NCAA Division I schools will add flag football club teams over the next two years. Rutgers University (NJ) will add a club team for the 2025-26 academic year, while Valparaiso University (IN) will add a club team in the 2026-27 academic year.
Rutgers is the latest school in New Jersey to add flag football in recent weeks. NJCAA members Camden County College and Rowan College of South Jersey-Cumberland were grant recipients, allowing the duo to establish flag football programs. Earlier this week, Caldwell University (NCAA D-II) was confirmed to be adding a team for the 2026-27 academic year. Rutgers is the third member of the Big Ten Conference to offer a flag football club team, following Penn State and Maryland.
Valparaiso is the first NCAA Division I school in Indiana to add a club or varsity flag football team. Two other schools in Indiana, Purdue Northwest (NCAA D-II) and the University of Saint Francis (NAIA), offer varsity programs. Valparaiso is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), which would make it the second school to add the sport. Drake University (IA) appears to also be adding a club team, although there has not been an official announcement.
The overwhelming majority of NCAA Division I schools that offer flag football compete as club teams. Iona (NY), Niagara (NY), Penn State, Radford (VA), and Rutgers (NJ) will offer club teams starting this academic year. Drake (IA), Saint Joseph's (PA), Syracuse (NY), and Vermont may join that list. Alabama State, Long Island (NY), Mercyhurst (PA), and Mount St. Mary's (MD) are the only varsity programs in NCAA D-I for the 2025-26 academic year. Cal Poly and UT Arlington will offer varsity flag football in 2026-27
Over 225 schools are expected to have a flag football club or varsity team for the upcoming season, including more than 100 new programs. Nearly three dozen schools have already announced the addition of flag football for the 2026-27 academic year. All the growth has led the NCAA to recommend that flag football join the Emerging Sports for Women Program. If approved, flag football could receive NCAA Championship status as early as 2028.