NFL partners with TMRW Sports for pro flag football league

PHOENIX — The NFL is expanding its footprint into the world of flag football.

At the NFL’s annual meetings at the Arizona Biltmore on Monday, the league announced a partnership with TMRW Sports, the company behind golf’s TGL, to develop a professional flag football league for men and women that will be backed by all 32 teams plus a plethora of well-known names in and out of football.

The league has been in the works for two years, said Hall of Fame receiver Larry Fitzgerald, one of the investors.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Fitzgerald said Monday. “And I think just with the growth of the game, as you see it expanded internationally, obviously with the Olympic announcement of flag football coming, we thought it would be a great opportunity to really expand it.”

Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president, club business, international and league events, said flag football has become “fundamental” for the NFL’s international and league strategy. He said, by the NFL’s count, there are 20 million flag football players across 100 countries.

In December, all 32 teams voted to “support the development of a professional flag football league” through 32 Equity, the league’s investment arm. O’Reilly said that since then the NFL had been looking for a partner for the league.

“That was critical to really find the right partner that we would lock arms with to bring this professional league to life for men and women,” O’Reilly said.

Through 32 Equity, the teams authorized an initial investment of up to $32 million for the league. Along with TMRW Sports and the 32 teams, investments in the league are also coming from Pro Football Hall of Famers Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Steve Young and Fitzgerald, as well as former players Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Justin Tuck, Ryan Nece and Dhani Jones. Three current players — Arik Armstead, Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson — also invested, along with Billie Jean King, Ilana Kloss, Alex Morgan and Serena Williams.

A release from the NFL said institutional investors include Ariel Investments/Project Level, Bessemer Venture Partners, Blue Pool Capital, Dynasty Equity, Silver Lake, Sixth Street, 776/Alexis Ohanian, APEX Capital, Arctos Partners, Bolt Ventures, Next Legacy Partners, Trenches Capital and Trybe Ventures.

TMRW Sports founder and CEO Mike McCarley wouldn’t get into the financials of the deal but said more details about the league will come out over the next couple of years.

“The momentum behind flag football has been building for decades,” McCarley said. “The pathway is there. And I think a lot of you are seeing in your communities where from youth to high school, now in college, and in two years at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

“What’s been missing in that pathway is a professional league and that professional league is where these kids can aspire to go play and where the athletes who will compete in the Olympics every four years can earn a living and do it in the sport that they grew up chasing and pursuing that sport that they love to play, football. We are here to help the NFL build this league.”

Although the structure of the league is still being hashed out, McCarley said there’s “a lot of communication on what is ideal, what markets seem to make sense.”

The goal, McCarley said, is to capitalize on the “accelerant that the Olympics has proven to be for so many sports all around the world.” One possibility, he said, is that the league could have a summer schedule leading into the NFL season.

Fitzgerald said the development of the league is still in its “infancy.” It’s still trying to figure out what it wants to be: Five player or seven player? Will teams be spread out around the country or will the league be centrally located?

“It’s still in its early stages, but that’s really exciting to be able to know you’re at the beginning stages of it,” Fitzgerald said. “And what’s cool is this game is going to be here and it’s going to be here for a long time.”