Wisconsin Lutheran, NACC Adding Women's Flag Football

Wisconsin Lutheran College will add a varsity women's flag football team and begin competing in the 2027-28 academic year. Athletic director Jeremiah Hoffmann stated the school plans to have a coach in place by May and will use the 2026-27 academic year to build the program.

Wisconsin Lutheran is located in Milwaukee and is a member of the NCAA Division III Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC). The NACC will begin sponsoring flag football no later than the 2027-28 academic year, according to Hoffmann's interview. Aurora University (IL), Benedictine University (IL), Lakeland University (WI), Marian University (WI), and Rockford University (IL) are the other five NACC institutions that offer flag football.

Three other NCAA D-III conferences currently sponsor flag football, or will in the future. The Atlantic East Conference and Empire 8 are sponsoring the sport for spring 2026 and will be joined by the American Southwest Conference in the 2026-27 academic year. Two other conferences have hinted at the likelihood of offering flag football. The Middle Atlantic Conference will begin sponsoring flag football no later than the 2028-29 academic year, while the Old Dominion Athletic Conference is working towards that goal in the next year or two.

10 schools now sponsor flag football in the state of Wisconsin: Beloit College (NCAA D-III), Bryant & Stratton College (NJCAA), Lakeland (D-III), Marian (D-III), Mount Mary University (NAIA), Ripon College (D-III), UW-Oshkosh (D-III), UW-Parkside (D-II), UW-Stout (D-III Club), and Wisconsin Lutheran (D-III).

Over 75 new flag football programs will be launched in the next few years, including 30 in NCAA Division III alone. That number will continue to climb after the NCAA added flag football to the Emerging Sports for Women program, setting the stage for it to become a championship sport in the next few years.