Flag Football’s Startup Moment: Building a Global Sport for LA28

Football is a cultural institution in America – it’s even taken over its own day of the week. But at the same time, its newest form, flag football, is still in its early stages. With the sport’s forthcoming debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, flag football is at an inflection point, scaling from community and high school leagues to the world’s biggest sporting stage. In many ways, flag football is operating like a startup inside one of the world’s biggest legacy organizations. It has the agility, accessibility and grassroots appeal of a disruptive product, while also having the NFL’s platform and resources to help it scale. This session will explore how the sport is growing internationally, why it resonates with the next generation of athletes, and what lessons innovators can take off the field by learning about what it takes to create the next Olympic sport.