The Future of Flag Football in America

An accomplished San Francisco business leader, Angelo Valle enjoys leading an active lifestyle. When he is not working or engaging with a local Young Leaders group, Angelo Valle spends time playing flag football and touch rugby.

In recent years, the subject of long-term injuries suffered by professional football players, particularly those involving chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), has been widely discussed. Youth football programs throughout the nation have gradually decreased in participation. Meanwhile, although the National Football League (NFL) remains the most watched product on American television, ratings and attendance have been less consistent than in years past. Recently, many have wondered whether or not a game like flag football could draw the same attention as tackle football. In fact, NFL linebacker Melvin Ingram recently suggested that professional football will more closely resemble flag football by 2027.

The idea of a flag football league evolving into a spectacle as big as NFL football might not be realistic, but the movement has already begun at lower levels of the sport. As some schools drop football programs due to lack of enrollment, others, like Hoover High School in Alabama, have converted to flag football, making flag the fastest growing team sport in the country. The number of 6- to 12-year-old players has risen nearly 40 percent since 2015 to approximately 1.5 million, over 100,000 more than those playing tackle.

More interesting is the fact that the NFL has invested significantly in flag football, primarily as a method of keeping young players and families from dropping the sport altogether. In 2018, the league announced plans to make 400 annual grants to Boys and Girls Clubs in the United States with the goal of developing flag football programs that will serve 100,000 players ages 6 to 18.