Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s sports venture is deepening its involvement in football as the NFL builds a professional flag football league with TMRW Sports. The partnership now has a showcase tied directly to Super Bowl week in Los Angeles. The Pro Flag Showcase will feature top players from the developing league.
TMRW Sports was selected by the NFL earlier this year after a competitive process. The move gives Woods and McIlroy’s company a role beyond golf. It also places professional flag football closer to the NFL’s biggest annual stage. The project is gaining momentum ahead of the 2028 Olympics.
TMRW Sports is expanding beyond golf
TMRW Sports was founded by Woods, McIlroy, and sports executive Mike McCarley, and its best-known project is TGL, the technology-driven team golf league created with the PGA Tour. It has since expanded into women’s golf and flag football.
The NFL announced in March that TMRW Sports would develop and operate a professional flag football league for women and men. The league is expected to launch before the 2028 Olympics, adding another level between amateur and Olympic competition.
The project has attracted football names including Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Larry Fitzgerald, Tom Brady, Eli Manning and Russell Wilson. NFL clubs were also authorized through 32 Equity to approve up to $32 million for the venture.
The Super Bowl week showcase changes the spotlight
The latest development is the Pro Flag Showcase, announced Sept. 21 by the NFL and TMRW Sports. It will become an annual Super Bowl week event, starting with Super Bowl LXI week in Los Angeles, where a custom-built flag football venue is planned.
The showcase will feature stars of the upcoming professional league rather than current NFL teams. NFL senior vice president Brian Flinn said the event will highlight the athletes and the highest level of competition shaping the sport’s future.
The timing gives the new league a prominent platform before launch. Super Bowl week provides a high-profile NFL setting for a competition that has yet to establish its own regular-season identity.
Flag football is becoming a bigger NFL priority
The NFL says about 20 million people worldwide play flag football, with more than 4.1 million U.S. youth players. The league said U.S. youth participation has increased by more than 50% since 2020.
The domestic pipeline is expanding. NFL data said flag football was offered at the high school level in 39 states, while more than 250 colleges and universities had women’s flag football programming.
The NFL has also backed the sport’s Olympic future, with flag football set to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. That inclusion gives the growing pipeline of youth and college participation a direct connection to the international stage.
Fun fact: Nebraska became the first Power Four Division I school to launch a varsity women’s flag football team, giving the sport a foothold inside a major college conference.
The Olympic debut adds another layer
Flag football will make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, creating a major international milestone for the professional league. The NFL describes it as part of a pathway from youth play through professional and Olympic levels.
More than 200 NFL players representing 25-plus countries have expressed interest in pursuing Olympic opportunities, according to the league. U.S. player acclimation camps are scheduled to begin in early 2027.
The league’s men’s and women’s competitions also connect with the international structure overseen by the International Federation of American Football. That relationship gives the professional project a link to the sport’s Olympic development.
The NFL has already moved flag football closer to its biggest events
Flag football was already central to the 2026 Pro Bowl Games, which featured an AFC-NFC flag football game in San Francisco. The NFC won 66-52 in that format.
The NFL has ended the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl game while retaining Pro Bowl selection as an individual honor. The league also said it will continue expanding its support for flag football as the sport builds toward its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
That gives the Pro Flag Showcase a different role from the Pro Bowl. The showcase centers on the emerging professional league, while the Pro Bowl recognizes NFL players.
TMRW Sports is building the professional structure
TMRW Sports named Brendan Donohue president of flag football in July, while Champ Kelly became senior vice president of flag football operations later that month. Populous was also selected as architect for a professional flag football stadium.
Former flag football standout Vanita Krouch was added to lead player relations. Izzy Geraci was also added as a flag football ambassador in August. Those appointments give the planned league a leadership team with experience across operations, player development and the sport’s international structure.
TMRW Sports has partnered with the International Federation of American Football on athlete development and competition pathways. That connects the league with the international Olympic structure for flag football.
Woods and McIlroy now have a football project too
Woods and McIlroy remain associated with golf, but TMRW Sports has expanded into other sports properties. TGL established the company’s technology-focused league model, while the NFL partnership applies it to non-contact football.
The partnership connects TMRW Sports with the NFL and an Olympic sport with growing participation. The league will include women’s and men’s competition, while the NFL describes the pathway as stretching from youth participation through college, professional competition, and the Olympics.
The Sept. 21 announcement adds an annual event to that pathway. Professional flag football will now have a place on the Super Bowl week calendar before the league fully launches. The project also gives TMRW Sports another opportunity to build a new sports property around technology, accessibility, and a different format of competition.
TL;DR
- TMRW Sports, co-founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, is developing a professional flag football league with the NFL.
- The NFL and TMRW Sports announced an annual Pro Flag Showcase, starting with Super Bowl LXI week in Los Angeles.
- The professional league will include women’s and men’s competition ahead of the 2028 Olympics.
- Flag football has expanded across youth, high school, and college programs in the U.S.
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This article was made with AI assistance and human editing.
