Women's flag football could be the Big Ten's next big bet

Good morning,

Thanks for reading NIL Wire today. I have a fun story on the growth of women’s flag football and the potential of TWO power conferences adding the sport in the near future. The speed at which this sport is growing is staggering. We will continue to examine it as the year goes on.

— Kyle

Women’s flag football is surging toward power conferences.

Last Tuesday, March 31, Sports Business Journal’s Ben Portnoy dropped a story that made people around college athletics stop and think. The Big 12 is eyeing women’s flag football as a potential addition by 2028.

That same day, the Big South went a step further and made it real. The conference announced it will sponsor women’s flag football starting in 2027, with Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, Radford, UNC Asheville and USC Upstate already on board.

This is a trend line that’s bending sharply upward. Spend time talking to administrators, and the momentum is obvious. A day before Portnoy’s report, Nebraska AD Troy Dannen told me, “I’d be shocked if it wasn’t a Big Ten championship sport in a few years. From my discussions with the commissioner [Tony Petitti], I would guess the Big Ten would like to be a leader in this space.”

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