Nike Partners With the NFL to Commit $5 Million Toward Growing Girls Flag Football in High School
Nike has entered into a different partnership with the National Football League. Nike has announced a new grant initiative with the NFL that will commit a total of $5 million in Nike products to help to grow the sport of flag football within high school athletics. This collaboration is being done to inspire the next generation of female athletes.
“The expansion of girls’ flag football is essential to the growth of the game and preservation of the values it has contributed to society for decades,” says Troy Vincent, NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations, in a written statement. “Girls flag demonstrates that football is for all, and the greater the participation, the stronger the game, and the more young women can build the transferrable skills football provides for achieving success in life.”
This newly formed initiative will provide a one-time donation of up to $100,000 in product to state athletic associations that offer girls flag football as a high school sport or are showing progress by working toward a working pilot program beginning in 2021. The state of Florida, which has been promoting girls’ flag football for more than 10 years and is the home state of Super Bowl contenders the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will be the first to receive the grant.
The products will include flag football uniforms, socks, and accessories such as sports bras, all of which will be distributed to each participating state’s governing interscholastic or athletic association at their discretion. There are currently only six states that sanction high school flag football for girls (Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and New York). With the financial support of Nike and the National Football League, this initiative may help remove operational barriers so more states can introduce girls’ flag football programs.