The sport that continues to be sanctioned by high school athletic associations across the country and is set to make its Olympic Games debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics just added another notch in its belt.
Girls flag football is officially inside the top 10 of girls sports across the country, NFL Flag announced in a social media post on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
According to the post, more than 102,000 girls are playing flag football in 2026, marking a staggering rise from just 15,716 five years ago.
As of the announcement, 24 states, including Washington D.C., have officially sanctioned flag football, meaning it's recognized as an official varsity
sport with an organized state championship. Other states are currently running pilot programs as they push towards official sanctioning.
The NFL has been a massive supporter of flag football, with countless NFL teams helping push their states towards sanctioning the sport.
Just last month, the New England Patriots, who previously organized a 10-team pilot season, helped push Rhode Island across the finish line, with the sport officially getting the "sanctioned" stamp on Aug. 17. Rhode Island, which is the most recent state to sanction flag football, was the eighth state to do so in 2026 alone.
Set to make its Olympic debut in 2028, flag football has also been recommended to be an official collegiate sport by the NCAA. Back in May, the NCAA formally recommended flag football be a championship-level collegiate sport with eyes on an official women’s flag football NCAA Tournament as early as the spring of 2028.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The NFL and NFL Flag announce a impressive milestone for girls flag football
