The Rise of Flag Football

The Brand Strategy Behind Flag Football’s Journey To the 2028 Olympics

By: Jacob Weaver, Account Executive

As we enter the summer of 2024, we also enter a new Olympiad. The 2024 Paris Olympic Games begin in July, but my focus is already set on the 2028 Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles and feature Flag Football for the first time in Olympic history.

Now, I know what you’re thinking – “Should flag football really be an Olympic sport?” Most people associate flag football with youth athletics and college intramurals, but over the last several years, flag football has grown into a larger and more established brand within sports.

The sport of flag football was seemingly popularized within the U.S. military as a way for service members to exercise and build camaraderie without risking their physical health. Today, it has become a safer alternative to tackle football.

The NFL, the most dominant brand in American sports, has long supported and fostered the growing brand of flag football through several different efforts. NFL FLAG, which started simply in the mid-90s as an offshoot of the NFL’s wellness initiative, Play Football, has grown into the country’s largest youth flag football league with over 600,000 participants. Through the NFL Flag In-School Program, flag football is now included in physical education curriculum throughout the US. Even during the last Super Bowl, the NFL produced a commercial to encourage participation that featured Diana Flores, the quarterback of Mexico’s women’s national flag football team, which won the gold medal at the 2022 World Games. The championship event Diana participated in was also televised on the NFL Network.

While overall participation in youth sports has declined in the last decade, flag football participation has increased by 38% since 2015, indicating that the efforts flag football has put into increasing awareness amongst potential participants continue to pay off.

The sport continues to expand as the American Flag Football League will have its inaugural season kick-off in 2024, with four teams playing in Dallas, Las Vegas, Boston, and Nashville, culminating with the inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Ultimately, whether you are aiming to grow a new or existing brand, it is important to understand where your product fits into the market and show dedication to educating your consumer audience on the benefits of your offering. Flag Football as a sport did a great job of carefully growing their sport by communicating with an already engaged audience, fans of the NFL and tackle football, and educating them on why the sport is a viable alternative to traditional tackle football.

At &Barr, we have experience growing both new and existing brands. If you’d like to learn more about what we can do to help your brand reach its goals, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

we have experience growing both new and existing brands. If you’d like to learn more about what we can do to help your brand reach its goals, please don’t hesitate to contact us.