While speaking in London ahead of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings vs. Cleveland Browns matchup, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told the press on Thursday that the league plans on creating men’s and women’s professional flag football leagues “in the next couple of years.” The NFL seems hellbent on getting more people, inside the United States’ borders and beyond, involved in the game.
Flag football will be featured in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, which the league is hoping will help with this mission.
The NFL has already stated that its players will be able to miss summer practices with their clubs if they’re chosen to compete in the 2028 Olympics.
The league has also been pushing states to recognize flag football as a sponsored sport at the youth level, too. So far, girls’ flag football is sanctioned as a varsity sport in 16 of 50 states.
Goodell broke more news, too, as he mentioned that the league will be returning to Mexico for the 2026 regular season and will be playing games in Asia in the near future. “If you’re going to be global, you have to do it beyond Europe, beyond the Americas,” Goodell told the audience.
The NFL debuted in Dublin, Ireland this year and plans to continue playing games in Europe and Brazil moving forward. The league will play its first game in Spain on November 16th and is expected to play its first game in Australia in 2026.
