NFL uses its platforms to push flag football World Games finals

Posted by Mike Florio on July 15, 2022, 10:05 AM EDT
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The NFL wants to globalize football. The latest goal in that regard centers on making flag football a truly global sport.

More specifically, the league wants flag football to be included in the Olympics. Toward that end, the league is now actively promoting flag football to its domestic audience.

On Thursday, the USA beat Italy for the gold medal in the first-ever flag football World Games. The NFL heavily focused on the game via its website and massive Twitter footprint of more than 30 million followers. A full-blown game story ended up on NFL.com, with a link on the front page of the league-owned website.

Also on the front page of NFL.com is a link to the story regarding Mexico defeating the USA in the women’s flag football final.

The league can use its platforms however it chooses, obviously. In this specific case, the league wants people to embrace flag football. The league wants flag football to grow. The league wants flag football in the Olympics. The league eventually wants tackle football in the Olympics.

It’s all part of the broader effort to turn a billion-dollar sport into a trillion-dollar sport. It’s about making the National Football League truly international. It’s about getting more and more people beyond our borders watching games and buying merchandise and spending time and effort consuming NFL-related content.

So if you’re wondering why the NFL is suddenly force-feeding flag football onto an American audience that seems dubious at best about it, that’s why. It’s not about us. It’s about the league getting more people around the world interested in the sport.

We’ll see if it works. The first specific objective will be to get flag football in the 2028 Olympics.

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10 responses to “NFL uses its platforms to push flag football World Games finals”

  1. The league didn’t care when I thought that a 17th game was an insult to fans and players alike, so i doubt they’ll care that I feel the same way about having flag football at the Olympics. At least with this they arent rewriting the records set by Hercules, Ulysses, and all the Hall Of Famers that came before them

  2. The NFL has been a flag football league for close to 20 years now… FLAG for (un)necessary roughness; FLAG for tapping the quarterback; FLAG for nothing near taunting; FLAG for hitting a “defenseless” receiver; FLAG for grazing a helmet; FLAG for “pass interference”

  5. “So what do you do for a living?”

    “I play professional flag football…”

    “Oh. Wow. So, uh, cool!”

  6. Why would anyone internationally play flag football when regular football isn’t even remotely popular? Flag football is easier to start up since you don’t need the gear, and lower likelihood of injuries, but with how popular rugby and soccer are in the world, they literally have both the tackle and finesse elements that football brings.

  7. I’d love to see it. It’s easier for me to picture people worldwide grabbing a ball and couple of pieces of cloth to use as flags than it is to see them put on football pads. In a pinch they can use any ball, not just a football. It’s a way for them to learn the basic rules and strategy.

    Also, overseas, some people think the pads make NFL players wimps. Obviously they don’t understand the speed and power of collisions in the NFL, but I think they’d be more likely to try the game if they see players not using them.

  9. minime says:
    July 15, 2022 at 1:19 pm
    How can the NFL tell the difference?
    ____________

    I really enjoy the internet tough guys who think that the NFL has somehow become soft. Put some pads on, go out and take a hit from any NFL player. See how much like flag you think that the league is then.

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