Calling all football fans! A new, exciting, must-see event, featuring youth athletes from across the United States and with global representation, has been added to the summer calendar – the NFL FLAG Championships presented by Toyota.
Following the 4th of July holiday and days before NFL training camps begin, ESPN and the NFL will present the inaugural event, Friday, July 19, through Sunday, July 21, from the Pro Football Hall of Fame Village in Canton, Ohio. Games will be available across an array of ESPN, Disney, and NFL platforms, bringing fans over 32 hours of live flag football competition, and adding another hallmark NFL event to ESPN’s year-round NFL calendar.
Focusing on the highly competitive 18U girls and the much anticipated 15U boys’ single elimination tournaments, ESPN will showcase 32 games across the three days, with each game expected to last less than 60 minutes in real time. The network’s coverage will get underway with the boys and girls round of 16 on Friday following the opening round of each tournament, which will begin with 32 teams.
In total, 15 games from each tournament (round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, championship) will be showcased across ESPN, Disney, and NFL platforms, culminating on Sunday afternoon with the 15U boys’ championship at 3 p.m. ET and the 18U girls’ championship at 4 p.m. Both Championship games are on ABC, Disney+, Disney Channel, Disney XD, and ESPN Deportes in addition to ESPN+ and NFL+.
Additionally on Saturday, two international division games will stream on ESPN+, NFL+ and YouTube (2 p.m. and 3 p.m.). ESPN’s coverage of the NFL FLAG Championships presented by Toyota will be available in over 125 countries, including live coverage available in Mexico, Brazil, throughout Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Fans in the Netherlands, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands will also be able to consume event coverage on ESPN branded networks.
“Combining ESPN and Disney platforms with the NFL’s commitment to flag football, the NFL FLAG Championships presented by Toyota will be the showcase event of the summer for the world’s fastest growing sport,” says Julie Sobieski, ESPN Senior Vice President of League Programming and Acquisitions. “Through our presentation and robust global distribution, we will spotlight the incredibly talented boys and girls within the tournament, while also highlighting the exciting, inclusive, and accessible nature of the sport. We look forward to being a gateway for many fans, including the peers of the participating athletes, to experience competitive flag football for the first time.”
“The NFL Flag Championships presented by Toyota, being held at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in Canton, Ohio, amplifies the goal for this tournament and for the NFL,” says Stephanie Kwok, Vice President of flag football. “This championship will showcase highly competitive games with competition from all 32 NFL clubs around the country. It also exemplifies that flag football at the grass roots level is inclusive and accessible, every girl or boy that wants to play will have every opportunity to play this game.”
ESPN’s involvement with the NFL FLAG Championships presented by Toyota was announced in February 2024 and overall, the entire NFL FLAG Championships presented by Toyota will attract 280 teams – divided into 11 different tournaments – comprised of youth flag football players ages nine to 18.
ESPN Commentators, Production Join Thousands of Youth Athletes in Canton Former NFL quarterback and 2012 Rookie of the Year Robert Griffin III and play-by-play commentator Mark Jones will team up to call the 18U girls’ tournament and 3x Super Bowl Champion Tedy Bruschiand play-by-play commentator Tom Hart will be in the booth for the 15U boys’ tournament. Eight-year NFL linebacker Kirk Morrison and play-by-play announcer Wes Durham, also the voice of the Atlanta Falcons, will be on the call for various games throughout the tournament. Analyst Rebeca Landa, a member of the Mexican Women’s National Flag Football team, will contribute to the Spanish-language coverage.
Reporter and analyst Phoebe Schecter, an NFL Global Flag Ambassador from the United Kingdom, reporter Kris Budden, and reporter Stormy Buonantony will contribute to ESPN’s coverage with on-the-field reports throughout the event.
In addition to the charismatic and dynamic voices documenting the games, ESPN’s production team will complement the on-field play by employing video enhancements for an elevated viewing experience, having players suited up with chest cameras, giving fans an extra angle of action. Additionally, coaches will be mic’d up, allowing fans to have a front row seat to the conversations around game strategy.
Throughout ESPN’s coverage, fans will be educated on the rules of flag football while also receiving an inside look at the athletes’ experience while participating in the tournament – including visiting the Hall of Fame Village campus, sights and sounds from Opening Night and the teams’ touring the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which even includes its first flag football exhibit.
32 Games to Take Place Across 10 Platforms Throughout the Tournament All 32 ESPN-produced games will be available on ESPN+ and NFL+, with 20 also streaming on YouTube. Notably, six games will be available on ESPN, with an additional four also available on ESPN2. Both championship games will be available on seven platforms: ABC, Disney+, Disney Channel, Disney XD, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+ and NFL+.
All semifinal and championship games will have a Spanish-language viewing option available on ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.
The full schedule of the tournament can be found below.
