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Flag football’s rise in popularity spurred by Nike, NFL commitments

Beyond the flashy dollar signs and viral game clips, the participation numbers of girls in flag football reveal that real growth is happening where it matters. (Alan Youngblood/Special to the Ocala Star-Banner via USA TODAY NETWORK)

Highlights of girls and women making stunning plays in flag football have been going viral in increasing numbers in recent years, and that’s because the sport is spreading like wildfire across the country, partly due to the recent initiative between Nike and the NFL that committed $5 million in product to grow girls flag football in high school athletics. State athletic associations can now apply for a one-time donation of up to $100,000 in product to go toward launching or supporting girls flag football.

In the latest augmentation of the initiative, Nike and the NFL have invited two of the top high school girls flag football teams in the country to square off this Friday as part of the inaugural Nike Kickoff Classic celebrating the return of football season across the country. In the grandest spotlight the sport has yet been given, the Alonso (Fla.) Ravens will take on the Robinson (Fla.) Knights at 3 p.m. (PT) in a game that will be broadcast nationwide on NFL Network YouTube from Ronaldo Field at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.

Beyond the flashy dollar signs and viral game clips, the participation numbers of girls in the sport reveal that real growth is happening where it matters. When the NFL and Nike first announced their initiative to grow girls flag football, six states sponsored the sport (Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and New York).

Since that announcement, one academic year has passed, and two more states have officially added the sport — Arkansas and Alabama — with California set to launch its program in 2023. In 2010, there were 6,235 girls playing high school flag football. By 2018, the latest data set available, that number had grown to 11,209 and that was three years before the boost from Nike and the NFL.

One person who has noticed the recent flame of popularity for the sport is Diane Beruldsen, founder of the International Women’s Flag Football Association (IWFFA), who has been playing and growing the sport of women’s flag football since the 1970s.

“I have to say, with the NFL’s advertisements, their excitement, they really have increased the number of flag football players for girls and women,” Berulsden said. “The last three years, I’d say, flag football has really bloomed.”

Just like all other sports, women have been playing football since its inception. They may have been off in the margins, away from mainstream attention and approval, but they were there. Women’s tackle football leagues have existed in the U.S. since the 1960s, as recently documented in “Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women’s Football League,” and continue today with not one but two elite leagues (the Women’s Football Alliance and the Women’s National Football Conference) pushing the game forward.

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According to Diane Beruldson, the first organized women’s flag football league was started in 1971 by Philadelphia’s Parks and Recreation Department and still continues today, now with 28 teams. (Treasure Coast News via USA TODAY NETWORK)

It’s no different with flag football, which women have been playing since soon after its inception in the 1940s and ‘50s.

“In the early years, we had to fight for field space,” Berdulsen said. “It would be the men first, then the boys, then the girls, then the women last.”

According to Beruldson, the first organized women’s flag football league was started in 1971 by Philadelphia’s Parks and Recreation Department and still continues today, now with 28 teams. Through the ‘70s and ‘80s, more leagues formed across the U.S. Beruldson herself spearheaded leagues in Brooklyn (1985), New York (1990) and Key West (1991). By 2001, the annual tournament she hosted in Key West included 49 teams and had added divisions for girls and juniors between the ages of 8 and 15.

It’s no surprise that when Florida became the first state to sanction girls flag football as a varsity sport in 2002, there were 103 schools and 3,855 participants across the state. Today, 320 schools in the state have teams.

Nevada had similar success when one of the state’s school districts launched a girls flag football program in 2014 after a student survey aimed at increasing girls participation in athletics revealed flag football received the highest interest amongst prospective new sports. Thirty-seven schools in the state now sponsor the sport for girls.

In Georgia and Alabama, financial support from the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons has been instrumental in launching their programs through grant money that schools can apply for and use for a variety of needs such as game officials and coach stipends. Georgia had 191 teams participate in just its second year of sanctioning the sport last season, and Alabama has 44 schools registered for its pilot program this year.

Beyond the financial commitment from the NFL and Nike, flag football has other appealing attributes that are contributing to its growing popularity.

For one, it’s a relatively low-cost sport in terms of equipment and facilities for athletic departments to add, especially for those that already sponsor tackle football. It also taps into the massive popularity of American tackle football. Its familiarity makes it attractive to new players, parents, and athletics supporters.

Lastly, its roster sizes are large enough to significantly increase the numbers of girls participating in sports for a given school, district and state.

“According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, there are one million fewer female high school athletes participating in sports than their male counterparts. This discrepancy is largely due to football,” Nike said via email. “As one of the fastest growing sports in the U.S., flag football provides girls with another opportunity to play and compete in sport and has the power to make a difference during a crucial period in their athletic development.”

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Beyond the financial commitment from the NFL and Nike, flag football has other appealing attributes that are contributing to its growing popularity. (Treasure Coast News via USA TODAY NETWORK)

Given that the noted disparity in high school athletics participation numbers is hardly a recent finding, it’s logical to wonder why now? Or more accurately, why not until now?

The obvious answer is that gendered social norms have always deemed tackle football a strictly male sphere. The women who played the game in the early decades went boldly against the grain, and many girls and women playing tackle football today still face significant backlash.

If individual families and communities haven’t been encouraging girls and women to pursue football in grand numbers, it’s no surprise that large organizations haven’t done so either, which reveals a fourth attribute that makes flag football so appealing — it’s not tackle football.

With increasing awareness and concern over concussions in athletics, especially in football, and persistent reluctance to see traditional tackle football as a girls game, flag is a very alluring version to promote.

Within flag football, there are many different variations. The main demarcation is how many players are on the field at a time. Beruldson believes the 8-on-8 variation played and taught by the IWFFA has the most to offer athletes. Whereas in 5-on-5 and 7-on-7, there is no blocking allowed, the 8-on-8 version includes blocking and most closely resembles the 11-on-11 tackle version of the game, making it a sport that requires and values a wide variety of body shapes and athleticism.

The existing national tackle football leagues for women — the WFA and WNFC — are thrilled with the explosion of flag football at the youth and high school levels. From their perspective, flag football is a direct gateway to the tackle version of the game.

“As flag develops, girls want to put on helmets. It’s just some girls are tackle football players,” said Odessa Jenkins, founder and CEO of the WNFC. “I don’t care what you do, how many flags you let her pull, she wants to tackle. She wants to get physical.”

Women’s football leaders across the board are also thrilled by the fact that flag football is now a sponsored varsity sport at 15 colleges in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Once again, the NFL was integral to this development, partnering with the NAIA to create the infrastructure and operations required to add the sport and serving as the presenting sponsor of the NAIA Football National Championships.

The recent rise of girls flag football across the country may give the impression that the sport was pulled out of thin air, but women have been playing and growing the game on their own for decades. What we’re seeing now is the incredible growth that’s possible when power players like Nike and the NFL come together to promote the natural athleticism and desire to play.

“What drives us is the possibility of inspiring more girls and women to see themselves in sport,” Nike said via email. “This grant demonstrates Nike’s continued commitment to inspire girls to continue to keep playing.”

Tessa Nichols is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports.

Germany Advances to 2025 Nations League Final Amid €100 Million DFB Investment

Germany players pose for a pre-game starting XI photo before the second-leg match in the 2025 UEFA Nations League semifinals.
Germany will make their women's Nations League Final debut in next month's 2025 two-leg championship. (Franco Arland - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

World No. 5 Germany is heading to the 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League Final, advancing with a narrow 3-2 aggregate advantage after surviving a semifinals comeback bid from No. 6 France in Tuesday's 2-2 draw.

The German women will next face reigning Nations League champions and world No. 1 Spain in this winter's two-legged finale, after the perennial titans quickly dispatched No. 3 Sweden by adding a 1-0 Tuesday victory to advance on a lopsided 5-0 aggregate score.

The two-match 2025 Nations League championship will kick off on November 28th in Germany, before Spain hosts the second leg on December 2nd.

While Germany's international prowess isn't new — with the program's resume boasting two World Cup wins (2003, 2007), an Olympic gold medal (2016), and eight of the 14 total Euros titles — the German Federation is doubling down on the national team's future by making a landmark €100 million investment into the country's top-flight domestic league: the Women's Bundesliga.

The German Football Association (DFB) announced the plan last week, with the DFB General Assembly readying to vote on the funds at next month's meeting.

Once approved, the move will mark the largest single investment in German women's football history.

"We want to ensure that the women's Bundesliga can stand on its own two feet: economically, structurally, and in terms of visibility," DFB president Bernd Neuendorf told German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau. "It is an investment in the future — in equality, in opportunity, and in the growth of the women's game."

ESPN and Athletes Unlimited Announce Expanded 3-Year Broadcast Deal

Opposite Jordan Thompson and setter Sydney Hilley celebrate a play with their Athletes Unlimited volleyball teammates during a 2025 game.
AU's three-year media rights extension agreement includes its softball, volleyball, and basketball competitions. (Athletes Unlimited Volleyball)

The broadcast reach of Athletes Unlimited got even stronger this week, as the pro women's sports organization scored a blockbuster media rights extension with ESPN on Wednesday, ensuring three more years of basketball, volleyball, and softball coverage.

"The growth we've seen across Athletes Unlimited's leagues speaks to the power and appeal of women's sports," said ESPN EVP of programming and acquisitions Rosalyn Durant. "We're excited to deepen our partnership and bring even more of these moments and athletes to fans everywhere."

As part of the extended partnership, ESPN will exclusively air 50 Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) games annually, including 47 regular-season matchups and the AUSL Championship Series, with the company's titan channel ABC also committed to airing the first-ever pro softball game on network television.

The broadcast giant already has a vested interest in softball's future, with the most recent Women's College World Series Finals delivering a record-high 2.2 million viewers across ESPN networks last June.

AU's basketball and volleyball footprints are also growing, with all 24 games from each competition's season now set to air live each year.

"This renewed and expanded partnership affirms the strength of our properties and reflects the growing enthusiasm for women's professional sports," said AU chief broadcast officer Cheri Kempf.

Report: WNBA Star Paige Bueckers to Make Feature Film Debut

UConn basketball star Paige Bueckers smiles on the orange carpet at the 2025 WNBA Draft.
Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers is attached to star an Apple Original Films production. (Mike Lawrence/NBAE via Getty Images)

Reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers is branching out, with Deadline reporting Wednesday that the Dallas Wings guard has signed on to star in an upcoming Apple Original Film.

Dubbed Jess & Pearl, the sports drama is based on an original idea by Zahir McGhee, whose resume includes writing and producing on the hit TV series Scandal.

"Set in the world of women's basketball, the film follows two phenoms who forge an extraordinary bond as teammates until fame, competition, and the ruthless business of college athletics threaten to turn their friendship into an epic rivalry," stated Deadline.

Middle Child Pictures will produce the film with White Lotus executive producer David Bernad at the helm along with Wasserman's Lindsay Kagawa Colas and Tommy Alter.

Along with stepping in front of the camera, Bueckers will also serve as an executive producer on the project.

Bueckers isn't the first WNBA player to dive into the world of cinema this year, after enterprising Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese made her own feature film debut with a cameo in Netflix's A House of Dynamite earlier this month.

The UConn alum is facing a packed offseason, with Bueckers adding her new Hollywood venture to a schedule that includes the star guard making her Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball debut in January.

UConn Star Sarah Strong Leads ESPN 2025/26 NCAA Basketball Preseason Top 25

UConn star sophomore Sarah Strong smiles during warm-ups before a 2025 preseason exhibition game.
UConn forward Sarah Strong enters her sophomore NCAA basketball season armed with a national championship. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

UConn basketball continues to pile on the preseason accolades, with ESPN's annual Top 25 women's NCAA player rankings listing star Sarah Strong at No. 1 ahead of her sophomore season with the Huskies.

Even more, UConn emerged as the only program with two Top 10 players, as ESPN put Strong's teammate Azzi Fudd at No. 8 entering her final NCAA season.

New UConn transfer Serah Williams also made the cut at No. 18, as the preseason AP No. 1 Huskies attempt to repeat their 2024/25 title despite losing superstar Paige Bueckers to the WNBA.

Last season's Final Four participants No. 2 Lauren Betts (UCLA), No. 4 Madison Booker (Texas), No. 11 Joyce Edwards (South Carolina), and No. 17 Kiki Rice (UCLA) round things out, accompanied by more individual standouts like No. 3 Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame) and No. 5 Flau'Jae Johnson (LSU).

The lineup also featured big-name offseason transfers, including highly touted newcomers No. 6 Olivia Miles (TCU), No. 7 Ta'Niya Latson (South Carolina), No. 14 Gianna Kneepkins (UCLA), and No. 19 MiLaysia Fulwiley (LSU).

Freshmen were not eligible for ESPN's preseason rankings, though NCAA debutants can make the updated list as it shifts throughout the year.

How to watch the ESPN Top 25 players in action

The NCAA basketball elite will tip off the 2025/26 season on Monday, with a full slate of games beginning at 11 AM ET.

The ESPN 2025/26 NCAA basketball preseason Top 25 players

1. Sarah Strong (UConn)
2. Lauren Betts (UCLA)
3. Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame)
4. Madison Booker (Texas)
5. Flau'Jae Johnson (LSU)
6. Olivia Miles (TCU)
7. Ta'Niyah Latson (South Carolina)
8. Azzi Fudd (UConn)
9. Mikayla Blakes (Vanderbilt)
10. Audi Crooks (Iowa State)
11. Joyce Edwards (South Carolina)
12. Mikaylah Williams (LSU)
13. Raegan Beers (Oklahoma)
14. Gianna Kneepkens (UCLA)
15. Kymora Johnson (Virginia)
16. Zoe Brooks (NC State)
17. Kiki Rice (UCLA)
18. Serah Williams (UConn)
19. MiLaysia Fulwiley (LSU)
20. Yarden Garzon (Maryland)
21. Talaysia Cooper (Tennessee)
22. Khamil Pierre (NC State)
23. Cotie McMahon (Ole Miss)
24. Toby Fournier (Duke)
25. Maggie Doogan (Richmond)