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Flag football is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States, and an NFL legend continues to help drive that growth with a major partnership announced Tuesday.
Drew Breesthe New Orleans Saints legend, and his football league Football ‘N’ America (FNA) have partnered with Unrivaled Sports, the nation’s leader in youth sports experiences, to continue elevating the game to which Brees credits his football foundation.
Brees and Chris Stuart founded FNA in 2017 with the goal of making flag football fun, competitive and community-driven for boys and girls of all ages and abilities.
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Drew Brees coaches flag football during an FNA event on September 6, 2019. (Soccer ‘N’ America)
“So not only did I come from someone who played the game, but also from someone who had kids who wanted to play. Also, I coached all my kids, including their friends, until now, they are high school football players, so I see it all coming full circle.”
Unrivaled Flag has the same ambitions as FNA, and they are ready to bring their vast resources to the table to expand leagues nationwide through new operators and communities, while connecting them to Unrivaled Flag programming, including High School Girls Nationals, The Gold Jacket Classic and the Youth Flag World Championships.
“We are proud to partner with Drew and the FNA team to create great experiences for athletes and define the standard for the sport as the flag continues to grow and gain popularity with girls and boys across the country,” Jim Reynolds, CEO of Unrivaled Flag, said in a statement. “We are inspired by the momentum around flag football as it takes to the world stage in 2028, and are proud to be leading the charge in the youth world.”
As Reynolds mentions, flag football will be a Olympic sports in Los Angeles Come 2028, and there is already a huge buzz around what is expected to be an exciting part of the Games.
Drew Brees coaches flag football during an FNA event on September 6, 2019. (Soccer ‘N’ America)
Brees has seen firsthand the impact American football has around the world, given his time in the NFL and his knowledge of their international games. But because he was an analyst for the international broadcast of the Christmas Day football game on Netflix last season, he saw the millions of viewers who not only watched the game but also asked him and NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson questions about the game.
“The viewership was crazy and just the reach,” Brees said of that broadcast. “So that was really an eye-opener for me to see how many people around the world are interested in American football.”
When it comes to the game itself, Brees believes flag football is a “gateway sport,” giving kids the opportunity to learn so many different things that they can take with them into other sports and into everyday life.
“It used to be that you could say football was the first thing you put your kids in. But I think now in a lot of cases I see young kids playing flag football for the first time when they were five, six, seven years old and that’s really their introduction to the sport,” Breese said. “I see a lot of girls doing it too, which has never been the case. We are in a time where flag football is becoming an entry sport for so many kids.”
Drew Brees coaches flag football during an FNA event on September 6, 2019. (Soccer ‘N’ America)
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With a collective determination and drive to continue impacting children and communities across the country, Unrivaled Sports and FNA are ready to work together to impact the future of flag football and youth sports at large.
“Partnering with Unrivaled only adds fuel to the fire because of Unrivaled’s leadership and access to incredible resources,” said Brees. “They run some incredible facilities around the country that will play host to some really signature events when it comes to tournament series in our flag football leagues. And then just really cool experiential events around flag football that I think currently exist in other sports but don’t yet exist in flag football. We have the opportunity to be pioneers in that field many years from now.”
