The NFL is launching professional flag football leagues for men and women, says Commissioner Roger GOODELL

“We are committed to creating a professional female league and a male professional flag league,” said Goodell. “We have a lot of interest in this and I expect that we can do it, launch this, over the next two years.”

Goodell noted the rapid growth in the participation of Flag-Football at the levels of young and colleges, highlighting efforts to create a structured pipeline from young people through secondary and college, finally reaching a professional game. “If you define this structure where there are leagues for young people, going to high school, college and then professional, I think you can develop a scale system. It is an important infrastructure that we must create,” said Goodell.

A new future for football?

Flag Football has increased in popularity as a contactless and inclusive version of American football. USA Football reports that youth football participation has increased spectacularly in recent years, with nearly 1.6 million athletes aged 6 to 17 playing sport in the United States only. Sport is particularly important among girls and women, according to the national director of American football in the United States, contributing to calls for broader professional opportunities.

NFL’s efforts complete recent advances at the college level, the first NCAA conference launching a university female flag football division and sport being sanctioned at secondary level in several states. NFL promotional campaigns, including Football Flag in Pro Bowl and support for the growth of female flag football, are designed to promote inclusiveness and decompose gender barriers in football.

Flag Football will make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games as part of a collaboration effort involving NFL, American football and the International Federation of American Football (IFAF). This historical inclusion reflects the broad attraction and international growth in sport, with around 20 million people participating worldwide in more than 100 countries, according to the NFL. Olympic spotlights should amplify the visibility of flag football and inspire millions of young athletes around the world.

New professional football leagues are also considered an opportunity to attract new demographic data in sport, including young fans, families and women. NFL officials indicated that the league would use the rapid and skillful nature of Football Flag to create an exciting product for diffusion and streaming platforms. The main sponsors are already showing a strong interest in supporting the League, companies like Nike, Visa and Toyota involved in the NFL youth football championships, by Brew Morning, reporting promising commercial potential for the professional league.

For this story, Fortune Used a generative AI to help an initial project. An editor checked the accuracy of the information before the publication.