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- TGL golf operator TMRW Sports to co-develop and operate flag football league with NFL
- Competition launch timeline expected to align with LA28 Olympics
- NFL confirms American Express as new partner and Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium as Super Bowl 2029 host
The National Football League (NFL) has teamed up with TMRW Sports and high-profile investors to launch a new professional flag football league for men and women.
TMRW Sports, the venture backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy that created golf’s TGL competition, will partner with the NFL to develop and operate the league, which is also backed by all 32 NFL franchises, as well as current and former players.
Notable institutional investors include Ariel Investments’ women’s sports fund Project Level, Bessemer Venture Partners, Blue Pool Capital, Dynasty Equity, Silver Lake, and Sixth Street. Additional investors supporting the league include Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six, Apex Capital, Arctos Partners, Bolt Ventures, Next Legacy Partners, Trenches Capital, and Trybe Ventures.
NFL players past and present who are part of the investment group include Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Larry Fitzgerald, as well as Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Justin Tuck, Ryan Nece, and Dhani Jones, plus Arik Armstead, Bobby Wagner, and Russell Wilson.
Several other prominent figures from sports and entertainment are also investing, including Billie Jean King, Ilana Kloss, Alex Morgan and Serena Williams.
It was reported in February that TMRW Sports was set to operate the NFL’s new flag football league, beating off competition from 12 other groups. The NFL has been searching for a partner to run the flag football league since last December when team owners approved an initial investment of up to US$32 million from 32 Equity, the member team’s investment vehicle.
The plan is for the new competition to begin play in the runup to flag football’s Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028, which will act as a springboard for a sport which already claims to have approximately 20 million players globally. In the US specifically, approximately 4.1 million youth play flag football, which is a more than 50 per cent increase since 2020.
“As the flag football movement continues its explosive global growth, a professional flag league completes the pathway for elite athletes to compete at every level of the game, from youth to high school and college, to the Olympic stage, and now professionally,” said Troy Vincent Sr, NFL executive vice president of football operations.
“This is especially meaningful for girls and young women who are helping drive the sport’s growth worldwide and who can now see their dreams in this game extend all the way to the professional level. Selecting TMRW Sports represents an important step in our long-term commitment to growing flag football and supporting the world-class athletes driving its momentum.”
Meanwhile, the NFL has confirmed American Express as its official payments parter from the 2026 season. The company takes over from Visa, which had partnered with the league since 1995 but decided to end its sponsorship when its contract expired in March.
American Express’ multi-year deal, which includes activations at tentpole NFL events, is reportedly worth US$910 million over seven years, according to Sports Business Journal (SBJ).
As well as announcing a new commercial partner, the NFL revealed that Las Vegas will host Super Bowl LXIII in 2029 at Allegiant Stadium.
It will mark the second time the showpiece fixture has been held in the city, having done so in 2024. That edition welcomed more than 330,000 visitors and generated over US$1 billion in economic impact, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA).
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