The NFL names its pro flag football league Premier Flag, starting in 2027

The NFL and TMRW Sports named their new professional flag football league on Monday. It is called Premier Flag, it will have men's and women's divisions, and it will start play in the summer of 2027, according to the league's announcement on NFL.com. A U.S. host city will be named in the coming weeks.

League officials told Sports Business Journal it is the first time they have officially confirmed the summer 2027 start. Every game in the first season will be played at one venue in the host city. Populous is designing that stadium, which the league calls the first one built specifically for flag football, and Transwestern is running the host-city search.

The money behind it is mostly NFL money. The investor group includes all 32 NFL club owners, along with outside investors, current and former NFL players and women athletes. TMRW Sports, the company that runs the TGL golf league, will operate it. The AP reported that the goal is to pay enough that elite players can quit their day jobs and train year-round.

"I'm not sure there's ever been a league that's launched with more tailwinds," Brendan Donohue, TMRW's president of flag football, told SBJ. He pointed to growth in college, high school and youth flag football and to the sport's spot in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The league's numbers back up part of that. More than 250 U.S. colleges now have women's flag football programs, and high schools in 40 states offer it, with 25 states sanctioning it at the varsity level.

The logo has two stars for the two divisions and a shape the league describes as a nod to the NFL shield.

What's next: The host city announcement is the next big step. A talent combine is set for Mexico City on Nov. 22-23, following a London combine at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 6, and the top performers move on to a Premier Flag Combine in 2027. Fans get a first look before the season, too. The NFL and TMRW will stage a Premier Flag exhibition event during Super Bowl LXI week in Los Angeles, with Pro Bowl players and Hall of Famers backing the athletes.