NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced on Thursday in London that the league has plans to launch a men’s and women’s professional flag football league within the “next couple of years,” ahead of the 2028 summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
“We’re committed to creating a women’s professional league, and a men’s professional flag league. We’ve had a great deal of interest in that and I expect that we’ll be able to do that, launch that, in the next couple of years,” Goodell said at the Leaders in Sport conference at Twickenham Stadium.
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The NFL currently sponsors youth flag football in cities around the United States for boys and girls between the ages of 4 and 17. Flag football has been utilized by Goodell and the NFL as a way to attract the attention of young fans to the game. The league initially kicked off the youth flag football initiative in the early 1990s, with the first official camp being held in 1994 at Foxboro Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the home of the New England Patriots.
“The demand is there. We’re seeing colleges in the states and universities internationally also that want to make it a part of their program,” Goodell added.
“If you set that structure up where there’s youth leagues, going into high school, into college and then professional, I think you can develop a system of scale. That’s an important infrastructure that we need to create.”
Flag football will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Games in LA with USA Football leading the charge.
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In addition to the pro flag football leagues announcement, commissioner Goodell also stated that the league would be returning to Azteca Stadium in Mexico City in 2026. The NFL has not played a game in Mexico City since 2022 due to Azteca Stadium undergoing renovations in preparation for the 2026 World Cup. So, Mexico City will return to the international series rotation beginning next year, according to Goodell.
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