Nike

• Once a casual activity played at family reunions, the competitive sport of flag football is “soaring,” “exploding” and “skyrocketing in popularity nationwide,” according to mainstream news outlets.
• There’s some data behind the breathless headlines: According to the NFL’s official flag football program, since 2015 the number of kids ages 6 to 12 who play flag football has risen by 38%, to more than 1.5 million.
• In my recent book, “Emerging Sports as Social Movements,” I explore nontraditional sports like flag football and disc golf.

A fun, fast, safer alternative

• Though its rules are similar to tackle football, flag football is currently gaining attention for what makes it different.
• A “tackle” involves snatching one of two flags that hang from the hips of the ball carrier.
• While players face injury risks, they sustain far fewer head impacts than athletes who play tackle football.
• With the public’s concerns about brain injuries on the rise, many parents are opting for flag football instead of tackle for their kids.

The NFL cultivates the grassroots

• Although it may come as a surprise, the NFL is embracing flag football and taking its growth seriously.
• In 2021, the NFL and Nike committed US$5 million in equipment to support high school flag football teams across the nation.
• Most NFL teams are currently supporting the grassroots of flag football with summer camps, clinics and regional tournaments.

By the numbers

• According to figures collected annually by the National Federation of High Schools, 21,980 students played high school flag football in 2023.
• To put this number in context, however, tackle football attracted 47 times more students – roughly 1 million players – the same year.
• Though high school participation in flag football has increased steadily since 2007, almost all the growth comes from the girls’ side.
• A nationwide sports participation survey finds that the number of casual players of flag football is up, but core participation is down.

Red sport, blue sport

• Over the past decade, several studies have found a link between repeated head impacts and the risk for serious brain injuries, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
• Yet recent efforts to make tackle football safer for young athletes have been met with fierce resistance from families, fans and organizers.
• In many regions of the U.S., tackle football is deeply ingrained in the culture, leading to strong opposition to any changes.

• As beliefs about the dangers of tackle football become polarized, the perceived benefits of flag football will likely follow suit.
• As I showed in a recent study of sport popularity in 207 areas of the U.S., flag football is more popular in regions that tend to vote Democratic, with tackle football more popular in Republican areas.

Josh Woods does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.