Realizing inclusivity creates superconsumers, the NFL sees flag football as fuel for growth.
Blitz. Raising $160M from sports legends and leading VCs while pledging $32M, the NFL is teaming with TMRW Sports on a new league, aligning with flag’s 2028 Olympic debut.
MVPs. The sport saw a ~50% spike in high school girls’ participation from ’24–’25, as half of US states added varsity teams. Cosigning at the college level, the NCAA added flag to its Emerging Sports for Women program. Meanwhile, Michael Strahan and CAA Sports announced Grand Slam of Flag, a Super Bowl-week women’s tourney with $500K in prizes.
Role models. At ages 8–10, 80% of all kids feel they belong in sports. That drops to 66% of girls by 14–18, but 58% wish they had more opportunities to play. Lacking representation, 45% of girls don’t have a favorite athlete, contributing to gender participation and viewership gaps.
Takeaway: Investing in flag, the NFL is seeding fan interest early by building inclusive pipelines for participation.
We break down how fitness, wellness, and healthcare are converging — and what it means for business, culture, and capital.
No thanks.
A smarter way to track the future of health.
Built for founders, executives, investors, and senior operators.
Subscribe to Fitt Insider
{"head":"<script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':\r\nnew Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],\r\nj=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src=\r\n'https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);\r\n})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-KV7LDXC');<\/script>\r\n<!-- End Google Tag Manager -->\r\n<script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':\r\nnew Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],\r\nj=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src=\r\n'https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);\r\n})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-T7J5HFB');<\/script>\r\n<!-- Meta Pixel Code -->\r\n<script>\r\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\r\n{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\r\nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\r\nif(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\r\nn.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\r\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\r\ns.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\r\n'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\r\nfbq('init', '605118897773201');\r\nfbq('track', 'PageView');\r\n<\/script>\r\n<noscript><img height=\"1\" width=\"1\" style=\"display:none\"\r\nsrc=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tr?id=605118897773201&ev=PageView&noscript=1\"\r\n\/><\/noscript>\r\n<!-- End Meta Pixel Code -->","body":"<!-- Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->\r\n<noscript><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/ns.html?id=GTM-KV7LDXC\"\r\nheight=\"0\" width=\"0\" style=\"display:none;visibility:hidden\"><\/iframe><\/noscript>\r\n<!-- End Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->\r\n\r\n<!-- Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->\r\n<noscript><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/ns.html?id=GTM-T7J5HFB\"\r\nheight=\"0\" width=\"0\" style=\"display:none;visibility:hidden\"><\/iframe><\/noscript>\r\n<!-- End Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->","footer":"<script type=\"text\/javascript\" id=\"linkedin-script\">\r\n_linkedin_partner_id = \"4087129\";\r\nwindow._linkedin_data_partner_ids = window._linkedin_data_partner_ids || [];\r\nwindow._linkedin_data_partner_ids.push(_linkedin_partner_id);\r\n<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n(function(l) {\r\nif (!l){window.lintrk = function(a,b){window.lintrk.q.push([a,b])};\r\nwindow.lintrk.q=[]}\r\nvar s = document.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0];\r\nvar b = document.createElement(\"script\");\r\nb.type = \"text\/javascript\";b.async = true;\r\nb.src = \"https:\/\/snap.licdn.com\/li.lms-analytics\/insight.min.js\";\r\ns.parentNode.insertBefore(b, s);})(window.lintrk);\r\n<\/script>\r\n<noscript>\r\n<img height=\"1\" width=\"1\" style=\"display:none;\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/px.ads.linkedin.com\/collect\/?pid=4087129&fmt=gif\" \/>\r\n<\/noscript>\r\n\r\n<script async data-id=\"101397610\" src=\"\/\/static.getclicky.com\/js\"><\/script>"}
We use cookies
We use necessary cookies to make this site work. With your consent, we also use analytics and advertising technologies to improve the site and measure marketing.
