Overall participation in flag football in the U.S. has been on the rise since 2014, according to the most-recent figures from the SFIA. Back in 2024, there were roughly 5.5 million flag football players — by 2024, that number had jumped to 7.8 million.  

Better yet, of those 7.8 million, 2.7 million were considered “core” participants who played 13 days or more in 2024. That’s a lot of flag being played across America.

Interestingly, despite the high level of attention given to girls playing high school flag football, there are still far more boys/males playing — 6.211 million males and 1.614 million females in 2024.

According to USA Football’s analysis of the Physical Activity Council’s Annual Participation study, a few subsets of the flag football-playing population have exhibited statistically significant growth. For instance, during the past 10 years participation in organized girls’ flag football, ages 6-17, has grown 57 percent. And participation among girls, ages 6-12 increased by more than 280 percent from 2015 to 2024!

The Olympic Impact

When the flag football games kick off at the Summer Olympics in Los Angles in 2028, there’s a strong chance that both the women’s and men’s teams for Team USA will be the favorites to bring home the gold. But, there’s more to flag football’s future than the Team USA winning gold.

“Flag football in the Olympics will leave a legacy for the sport, increasing participation globally and driving even more fans and players to the game,” explains Scott Hallenbeck, CEO/executive director of USA Football. “That’s critical for flag and tackle.

“It takes the international element of the sport to another level,” he adds. “The global popularity of football will only continue to grow.”

For football players with Olympic aspirations, their dreams can be answered.

“Flag football in the Olympics shows all football players that they can aspire to compete at the peak of global sports,” Hallenbeck continues. “This will create new dreams for a generation of athletes around the globe. People will aspire to pursue the sport and follow in the footsteps of the pioneers elevating the game. We’re already seeing it with our women’s team.”

The College Experience

At the collegiate level, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) sponsors women’s flag football. It started as an emerging sport for the NAIA in 2021, with the most successful NAIA programs in Kansas, Florida and Georgia.

This summer the sport of flag football took a major leap forward when the NAIA’s National Administrative Council (NAC) Executive Committee approved women’s flag football as an “invitational” sport for the 2025-26 season.

“We’re excited and encouraged by the continued, rapid growth of women’s flag football in the NAIA and proud to be leading the way in that growth in the collegiate space,” says Austin Bennett, NAIA VP-championships. “Getting to invitational status is a big step in solidifying the sport on college campuses.”

The 2025-26 season will feature 35 NAIA programs competing in women’s flag football. Beginning in Spring 2026, the post-season will shift to a qualification-based invitational tournament. The NAIA’s National Administrative Council will begin developing the sport’s competitive framework, including the format, date, and location of the inaugural NAIA Women’s Flag Football Invitational.

Women’s/girls’ flag football is growing at other levels as well. Girls NFL Flag experienced a year-over-year growth of 21 percent in 2024 and sustained expansion through Parks & Recreation programs (up 23 percent in 2024) and YMCA programs (up 31 percent in 2024).

The High School Game

Girls’ high school flag football is growing in popularity every year and currently 17 states and Washington, D.C. sanction varsity girls’ flag football, with many more conducting pilot programs with the goal of becoming a varsity sport. The sanctioned high school varsity states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Nevada, Ohio (most recent), Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Washington.

“Since the first post-pandemic NFHS survey, participation in girls’ high school flag football has increased a massive 388 percent, with the 2024-25 report indicating 68,847 girls competed in the fastest-growing emerging sport for girls,” reports Dr. Karissa Niehoff, executive director of the NFHS, pointing out that 17 states have already sanctioned the sport, with two more set to officially approve by 2027 and 22 other states have independent/pilot programs.

“The potential is simply off the charts.”

It’s even possible that girls’ flag football may become one of the top 10 most popular sports for high school girls.

“The rapid growth of flag football for girls is one of the best stories in a number of years,” says Niehoff.  

The Role of USA Football

USA Football, based in Indianapolis, IN, is the only organization to select, train and lead the U.S. Flag National Teams in International Federation of American Football (IFAF) competitions, including the 2028.

The U.S. Flag National Team program consists of the four top-ranked all-star teams – Women’s National Team, Men’s National Team, Girls Junior National Team and Boys Junior National Team. These feature the best players in the country and look to sustain competitive success by developing the next generation of elite athletes.

As the governing body dedicated to promoting both tackle and flag football, USA Football CEO/executive director Hallenbeck is quick to point out that tackle and flag football are not competitors.

“Flag football isn’t replacing tackle,” he says. “Flag helps athletes develop the technical foundation, athletic traits and basic understanding of the game in their early youth to succeed in tackle football later in life. Many of our 15U and 17U National Team athletes play both flag and tackle football. The game types are complementary, not in direct competition.”