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When flag football debuts at the 2028 Olympic Games, it won’t just mark football’s arrival on the world’s biggest stage. It will mark the first time women are fully positioned at the center of the sport’s growth.
That was the message delivered during a Sports Lawyers Association panel on The Expansion of the Football Ecosystem, featuring Stephanie Kwok VP of Flag Football at the NFL, Eric Mayes of USA Football, and moderated by Brian Michael Cooper of Greenberg Traurig LLP. Together, they outlined how international growth, women’s participation, technology and private investment are reshaping football, with flag football emerging as the most powerful catalyst.
“This is the first time this has ever been done,” Mayes said of building Olympic flag football teams. “No one can ever say after this that they were the first.”
A Global Stage Built with Intention
Flag football’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics has accelerated international investment at a pace panelists described as unprecedented. USA Football, now formally designated as the national governing body for flag football, is responsible for selecting and preparing Team USA while coordinating with emerging programs worldwide.
Kwok, who works on the NFL’s flag football initiatives, pointed to growing competition from countries such as Mexico, Australia, China, Canada and Japan all of which are now investing heavily in flag football as a medal sport.
“The Olympics give flag football a global stage,” Kwok said, noting that international audiences are discovering a version of football that is easier to adopt, easier to scale and more inclusive by design.
“This is the first time this has ever been done. No one can ever say after this that they were the first.”
Women’s Flag Football Growth
While global expansion is accelerating, panelists were unequivocal about where the most dramatic growth is happening: girls’ and women’s flag football.
According to USA Football data shared during the panel, participation among girls ages 6-to-12 has increased by more than 283% over the past decade. High school state championships are expanding rapidly. More than 100 colleges now offer women’s flag football at the club or varsity level, with scholarships already being awarded.
Kwok spoke personally about the significance of this shift, recalling how she grew up loving football but never had an organized opportunity to play. Flag football, she said, is changing that reality for the next generation.
“For the first time, girls and women can see a real pathway: youth, high school, college, Olympics, and potentially professional,” she said.
That pathway is also pulling in athletes from outside traditional football backgrounds. Mayes explained that USA Football is actively recruiting women from sports such as track and field, basketball and volleyball, including collegiate athletes who never played flag football in college but are now submitting combine footage and attending camps to try out for Team USA.
“It’s going to be harder to pick a team,” Mayes said. “But that’s a good problem to have”.
“For the first time, girls and women can see a real pathway: youth, high school, college, Olympics, and potentially professional.”
Technology and VISibility Change Who Gets Seen
As the talent pool widens, technology is playing a critical role in legitimizing women’s flag football as an elite sport. USA Football is now using performance data, GPS tracking and video analysis tools that have long been standard in tackle football to evaluate flag football athletes objectively.
Equally important is VISibility.
Kwok emphasized the impact of broadcasting high-level girls’ flag football on ESPN and ABC through events like the NFL FLAG Championships. For many viewers, seeing girls compete at a high level is a revelation that challenges outdated ideas about who football is for.
“That first exposure is an ‘aha’ moment,” she said. “People see the game differently”.
Investment Follows Women’s Growth
Private investment is increasingly flowing toward flag football, driven largely by the growth of the women’s game. Panelists noted that discussions around professional women’s flag football leagues, expanded youth infrastructure and international programming are gaining traction precisely because participation numbers and audience interest support them.
But Mayes cautioned that sustainable growth requires investment beyond athletes alone, including coaches, officials and governance structures that ensure consistency and credibility as the sport scales.
A Defining Moment for Football
Looking ahead five years, both Kwok and Mayes agreed on one prediction: women’s flag football will be one of the most influential forces in American sports.
“Put women on that Olympic stage,” Mayes said, “and people will be invested”
As football expands globally and redefines its ecosystem, flag football is no longer an alternative version of the game. It is the blueprint and women are leading the charge.
