Women’s flag football is set to become a championship-level sport in the NAIA.
The NAIA, the equivalent of the NCAA for smaller schools, announced that it has partnered with the NFL to help launch women’s flag football. The sport is expected to have at least some games in 2020 and become a championship varsity sport in 2021.
The NFL will be giving $15,000 stipends to the first 15 colleges that launch women’s flag football programs.
Increasing the participation of girls and women in flag football has been a priority for the NFL, which wants to expand the female fan base as well as expand participation in football, which has been declining at the youth level. Across America, girls’ flag football organizations have about 100,000 participants.
