NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has expressed that the NFL is interested and focused on establishing professional flag football leagues for men and women.
Goodell feels that these leagues can be in operation as soon as “in the next couple of years.”
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Such an outcome becoming a reality would also make for good timing as, for the first time in Olympic history, the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles will include flag football as one of its’ events.
Sep 28, 2025; Dublin, Ireland; Ireland taoiseach Micheal Martin (left), NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (center) and Dublin lord mayor Ray McAdam pose during an NFL International Series game at Croke Park. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Goodell talked about the prospect of setting up professional flag football leagues at a conference in London, ahead of the International Series game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Cleveland Browns.
“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 as per the Associated Press.
“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.”
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Laney’s #5 Lucy Devane drops back for a pass as Laney takes part in a flag football game at at home Sept. 24, 2025. KEN BLEVINS/STARNEWS
Goodell also noted that implementing an effective youth pathway will be an important aspect for the development of these leagues.
“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,” he said.
With the international games being a staple of the NFL season for several years now, and with flag football set to be played on the Olympic stage in 2028, it will be interesting to see what a professional flag football league will do for the global growth of the sport and the NFL.
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