The SoCal Women’s Professional Flag Football League, which was set to field a Santa Barbara County team this summer, has been put on pause, league founder Roy Engelbrecht announced on Thursday.
The league’s announcement came after the NFL announced its partnership with TMRW Sports to launch its own professional men’s and women’s flag football league.
“While I have always been very confident in the concept of the Women’s Flag Football Leagues and the success that we would have achieved, it makes no financial sense to compete with the NFL,” Engelbrecht said in an email. “This decision was not made in a vacuum, as I spoke to several very knowledgeable sports executives, who agreed with me that competing against the NFL was a losing proposition.
“When a giant like the NFL decides to plant a flag in the exact space we were building, it’s not a failure of vision, it’s proof that our instincts were dead-on and ahead of the curve.”
While exact details on the NFL’s professional flag football league have yet to be released, the announcement said: “The NFL and TMRW Sports will continue to advance league design and operational planning over the coming months to ensure a world-class experience for athletes and fans alike.”
Notable members of the investment group include Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, Billie Jean King and Serena Williams, among many other former and current professional athletes.
The introduction of flag football at the professional level comes after more than 100 colleges and universities across the country announced the creation of women’s flag football programs.
On top of the uptick in popularity at the collegiate level, there are approximately 4.1 million youth flag football players across the nation, which is more than a 50% increase from 2020.
While Santa Barbara County may not have a team any time soon, it is clear that the future is bright for professional flag football.
