NFL gets major financial backing for professional flag football league
The NFL announced that it is launching a professional flag football league, and it already has some serious financial investment.
The NFL announced a major future endeavor on Monday. The league is set to start a new professional flag football league for both men and women, which will operate in the summer leading up to the NFL season. It seems the expectation is that the league will begin play in 2028, though that timeline is not official.
That would set the league up to play its inaugural season just in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, in which flag football will make its debut as an Olympic sport. It also seems to have some serious financial backing. In addition to a long list of private investors that includes former NFL players Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana and Larry Fitzgerald, the league has partnered with TMRW Sports, which created the TGL and was co-founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
It has also secured funding from investment firms like Silver Lake, Bessemer and Sixth Street. The NFL is backing its new pro flag football league with serious VC firepower, teaming with TMRW Sports and investors like Silver Lake, Bessemer, Sixth Street & more. NFL owners have committed $32M, with stars like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning & Serena Williams involved.
ā¦ pic. twitter. com/BxR3NnLfIV ā Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) March 30, 2026 Flag football is already growing in popularity, a trend that will likely accelerate when it appears at the Olympics in 2028.