NFL Commissioner Goodell: Transgender Girls Playing In Girls' And Womens' Flag Football Not On NFL Radar
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday said the NFL has not considered what it would do in the event transgender girls or women, born as biological men, try to participate in NFL-sponsored or NFL-sanctioned flag football events for biological girls and women.
"Armando, it's something we haven't discussed at this point in time," Goodell told OutKick at the close of the NFL Fall Meeting in New York. "So, I don't have an answer on that for you. We haven't even discussed that."
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 11: Quarterback Diana Flores of teamGunna during the Flag Football Showdown between Team Aitch and Team Gunna at Copper Box Arena on October 11, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
NFL Views Flag Football As Opportunity
The fact the NFL hasn't considered the topic suggests discussions will eventually have to happen to craft a policy as the league continues to ramp up its focus on flag football domestically and internationally — with much of it designed to include "girls and women," according to the league's phrasing.
Most states or sports-governing bodies do not collect or publish data on how many transgender youth participate in school sports teams, but the fact President Donald Trump made opposing it part of his successful 2024 election campaign, then signed a Presidential Executive Order on the subject that caused the NCAA to change its policies suggests the NFL will indeed have to deal with the matter at some point.
It's unlikely to simply go away.
The NFL views flag football as a strategic growth platform, not just a youth or auxiliary activity. It hopes to add the participation of girls and women in this brand of football, both in the United States and internationally, as part of that growth that extends to and beyond the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
"Flag remains at the forefront," said Gerrit Meier, Managing Director and Head of NFL International. "We know that the more people play the game, the more we will grow long-term engagement. It's a huge driver for us, and that is not just a function of L.A. '28. It's very important. It has raised the visibility of the sport. Flag has been there before, and we're now doing everything we can to kind of grow commitment."
The NFL even plans to launch women’s and men’s professional flag football leagues "in the next couple of years," Goodell said recently, with that creation coming ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics.
ANKARA, TURKIYE - JUNE 30: Players of METU Falcons and Koc Rams compete during final match of Flag Football Turkiye Championship at Yenimahalle Hasan Dogan Stadium in Ankara, Turkiye on June 30, 2024. (Photo by Didem Mente/Anadolu via Getty Images)
NFL Owners Briefed On Flag Football
Stephanie Kwok, the NFL's vice president and head of NFL Flag, briefed club owners on flag football growth and initiatives on Tuesday and that briefing was resoundingly positive.
"We've had a tremendous amount of interest since we announced that we were exploring the pro league earlier this year," Kwok said. "I think that really just shows the strong belief in, and the demand for, a professional flag league for both women and men.
"So our focus continues to be on selecting the strongest operating partner with a league launch ahead of the 2028 Olympics, and we expect to have additional news about the league operations and launch in the near future."
Partnerships and sponsorships are very important to the NFL. The NFL Flag Championships, played in July, is only in its second year and is already what the league calls a "tentpole event."
Some new partners added for that event, Kwok said, included Nike, New Era and Jersey Mike's. One might wonder if all those sponsors would continue those partnerships if the NFL were to open the tournament to transgender girls and women (biological men) competing against girls and women given the fact polling says having biological-at-birth males playing against females is unpopular.
ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 5: USA Women’s flag football wide receiver Maci Joncich runs with the ball during halftime at Highmark Stadium on October 5, 2025 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
NCAA Flag Football Vote In January
Approximately 66 percent of American adults, per a Pew Research Center survey done in February, favor public policies that "require trans athletes to compete on teams that match their sex assigned at birth."
That reflects an eight percent increase in respondents that wish to require transgender athletes to compete on teams that match their sex at birth compared to 2022.
Part of Kwok's briefing to owners included an update on what high schools and the NCAA are doing with flag football.
"We continue to focus on developing that competitive pathway, specifically for girls and women," Kwok said. "So, there are 38 states that now offer flag football as a girls' high school sport, as a sanctioned sport or as a piloting sport. So, Washington, Connecticut, and Ohio are three of the states that sanctioned this fiscal year, and then Virginia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Kentucky all added pilot programs as well.
"In the college space, women can play college flag at 100-plus colleges across varsity and club. That's how many colleges offered flag football last school year, and as we look ahead to the spring season coming up, we expect that to increase by over 50 percent. We're seeing a lot of interest from numerous college conferences, across Division I, II, and III, including the Power 4, and adding programs and scholarships coming up.
"And this January, the NCAA is expected to vote on making flag football an emerging sport. So this would be a major milestone in the college space, and it would be the first critical step to making flag football an official NCAA championship sport."
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - APRIL 08: The NCAA logo on the wall before the National Championship game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Connecticut Huskies at State Farm Stadium on April 08, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
NCAA Abides By Trump Executive Order
In February, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14201, titled "Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports."
The executive order, signed on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, outlines the Trump Administration's promise that it will "protect opportunities for women and girls to compete in safe and fair sports." It does this by making the point that it is "the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women's sports."
The order declares any school (K-12 or higher education) or athletic association that receives federal funding must not permit transgender girls or women (persons born male) to participate in girls’ or women’s sports.
The order prompted the NCAA on February 6 to change its eligibility policy for transgender athletes in women’s sports, limiting those competitions to student-athletes assigned female at birth only.
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - APRIL 26: Local girls' flag football teams wave to fans during the during the third day of the 2025 NFL Draft on April 26, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
NFL Pressured By Government And Sponsors
That said, professional leagues such as the NFL are not federally-funded educational institutions. Their direct contractual obligations under federal funding statutes (such as via Title IX) are limited compared to K-12 schools or colleges and universities.
But because the order directs federal agencies to enforce standards of "biological sex" in sports categories, it places pressure on athletic organizations to align their policies accordingly, according to the National Review.
For a league like the NFL, although the direct statutory hook of Title IX doesn’t apply, there could be indirect consequences such as affecting sponsorships, relationships with the federal government, public funds procurement, and partnerships or licensing agreements tied to federal funding.
There are also questions of competitive balance and advantage — subjects the league and its teams traditionally protect aggressively. It could be a hard argument for the NFL to make that flag football players who were male at birth have no competitive advantage over players who were female at birth.