Is flag football the key to the NFL’s global growth?

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🚨 Headlines

🎓 Y! Sports exclusive: The Power 4 conferences have drafted a contract that would bind schools to new enforcement rules and require them to waive the right to sue over decisions. Schools not signing could risk conference eviction. Go deeper.

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🏈 Eagles extend Sirianni: The reigning champs have agreed to a multi-year extension with head coach Nick Sirianni, whose .706 winning percentage (48-20) is the third-best in the Super Bowl era (min. 50 games).

⚾️ Check swing challenge: MLB is launching a pilot program today in Single-A that will allow teams to challenge check swing calls using the same Hawk-Eye tracking technology that enables robo umps to call balls and strikes.

🏀 Nuggets back Adelman: Nikola Jokić, Aaron Gordon and others are campaigning for David Adelman to be their next head coach after he nearly led Denver to the conference finals on the interim tag.

🏈 Warner gets paid: The 49ers signed four-time All-Pro Fred Warner to a three-year, $63 million extension that makes him the NFL’s highest-paid inside linebacker.

🏈 Flag football: The key to the NFL’s global growth?

NFL owners will meet in Minneapolis this week to discuss numerous topics. Among them: A resolution that would allow players to participate in flag football at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

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What’s on the table: The resolution would allow no more than one player from each NFL team to participate in the Games, while also permitting each club’s designated International Player to play for his country, clearing the way for representation beyond Team USA.

From Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson:

Nearly eight years ago, sitting on a couch in a hotel room in California, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had the concept of Olympic flag football on the tip of his tongue and just couldn’t find it.

In an expansive 1-on-1 interview with Yahoo Sports in the summer of 2017, Jones was discussing the growth of the NFL as a globally consumed sport when the subject of untapped markets was broached. Specifically, how to get traction in places where the NFL was nothing more than an oddity.

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It was a question that, back in 2017, was being focused through China — largely because the English Premier League and the NBA had cultivated that country’s hundreds of millions of potential fans in a way that the NFL could only dream of achieving.

Selling the sport, not the league: At first, Jones didn’t have an answer on China. But later in the interview, he speculated that the key to success there might be spurning the NFL-down strategy (aka. “selling the league”) in favor of a grassroots approach designed to introduce football organically (aka. “selling football”). In other words: Playing NFL games abroad is great, but what if you simply passed out a bunch of footballs and encouraged people to toss them around?

“[The answer] might be giving people a reason to pick up a football for the first time and just go outside to play with it,” Jones said. “Which really isn’t simple at all.”

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What he was getting at was a singular idea that has long created the wall between true global interest in the NFL versus the aggressively targeted international traction that currently exists: Getting people interested in the game itself — or some version of it — rather than getting people interested specifically in the NFL.

Enter flag football and the grand stage of LA 2028. It’s arguably the best answer the NFL has ever had to motivate the entire world to pick up a football and play with it — especially if some of the people picking up a football for their country also happen to be NFL players.

Keep reading.

⚾️ The AL Central has leveled up

The AL Central, which spent much of the past decade as a punchline, is now arguably the best division in baseball.

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Consolidated power: Four of the AL’s six best teams hail from the Central, which joins the perennially strong NL West as the only divisions with four teams above .500.

1. Tigers (31-17): Success was expected after Detroit ended its nine-year playoff drought in 2024. But best team in baseball in 2025? Who saw that coming? It helps that reigning Cy Young Tarik Skubal is dealing again (2.67 ERA, 0.93 WHIP) and $140 million man Javier Báez has emerged from a years-long slump (.811 OPS).

2. Royals (27-22): Perennial MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr. and breakout pitcher Kris Bubic (5-2, 1.47 ERA) have KC trending toward back-to-back playoff berths for the first time since winning the 2015 title.

3. Twins (26-21): This story would have looked a lot different a couple weeks ago when Minnesota was sitting at 13-20. Then they rattled off 13 straight wins (MLB’s longest streak in two years) and completely altered the trajectory of their season.

4. Guardians (25-21): Cleveland has long been the AL Central’s constant, with just two sub-.500 seasons since 2012. The bad news? Their run differential this year (-20) suggests regression is coming. The good news? José Ramírez is heating up.

5. White Sox (14-34): At least they’re not the worst team in the league this year.

From worst to first: The AL Central’s top dog status is particularly noteworthy given how bad this division was in the not-so-distant past. Their .436 winning percentage in 2018 was the worst in the divisional era (since 1969), and they nearly matched it just two years ago (.442) when they had one winning team.

Four playoff teams? If these teams keep it up, the AL Central could become the first division to send four teams to the playoffs. The Tigers, Royals, Twins and Guardians would all make the field if the season ended today.

🏎️ 400 races: Red Bull’s historic run

No Formula One team has had more success through their first 400 races than Red Bull, which won its 124th grand prix on Sunday in Italy.

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Leader of the pack: Red Bull’s 124 wins through 400 grands prix are 19 more than any other team in F1 history, putting them well ahead of Williams (105), McLaren (104), Ferrari (91) and Lotus (79). Renault (35), Tyrrell (23) and Sauber (1) are the only other constructors who’ve raced in at least 400 grands prix.

Man meets machine: Red Bull’s dominance can be partly attributed to its engineering prowess and innovative design, but fast cars alone don’t guarantee results.

• The real key to their success has been pairing those machines with the right tactics and drivers — namely four-time defending champion Max Verstappen.

• The 27-year-old is a rare talent behind the wheel, as he reminded us on Sunday when he outmaneuvered the field en route to his 65th career victory (third-most ever).

Zoom out: Red Bull’s historic success through 400 races already has them climbing the all-time leaderboard. They recently overtook Williams for fourth-most wins ever and are six away from passing Mercedes (129) for third. Ferrari (248) and McLaren (194) hold a sizable lead at the top, but it may be only a matter of time before Red Bull catches them, too.

📊 By the numbers

⚽️ 0 losses

Chelsea beat Manchester United, 3-0, in Sunday’s Women’s FA Cup Final to finish the season unbeaten in all 30 domestic matches they played. Among the 74,000 fans on hand to witness their latest triumph? The club’s newest minority owner, Serena Williams.

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⚾️ 118th immaculate inning

Marlins pitcher Cal Quantrill tossed the first immaculate inning of the season and the 118th in MLB history on Sunday against the Rays, striking out the side on nine pitches.

🎙️ $15,300

How much would you pay to call a half-inning of a Cubs game on the official broadcast? The team auctioned off that experience for charity and it just closed. The winning bid: $15,300.

🏀 1 million Facebook followers

The Fever are the first WNBA team to reach 1 million followers on a social media platform.

🏈 0.1% stake

Charles Woodson is joining fellow “Michigan Man” Tom Brady in the world of NFL ownership, paying $5 million for a 0.1% stake in the Browns. Brady owns a much larger share of the Raiders (5%) and has played an active role in football operations. It’s unclear how involved Woodson will be in Cleveland.

📺 Watchlist: Tuesday, May 20

We’re experimenting with a new Watchlist format that (1) highlights more key matchups while (2) listing fewer overall games. We also added a link to a daily TV guide so you can browse the full slate. Feedback? Email me.

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🏀 Timberwolves at Thunder (8:30pm ET, ESPN) | West Finals, Game 1

“New York is the glamour market, but this is the irresistible series,” writes Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill. SGA vs. Anthony Edwards should be peak NBA cinema.

🏒 Panthers at Hurricanes (8pm, TNT) | East Finals, Game 1

The Canes have lost 12 straight conference finals games in sweeps against the Penguins (2009), Bruins (2019) and Panthers (2023), who they get another crack at two years later.

🎥 “Untold: The Fall of Favre” (Netflix)

The latest entry in the “Untold” series delves into Brett Favre’s controversial career, the dark side of sports stardom and the scandals that marred his legacy. Now streaming.

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🏒 Minnesota at Ottawa (7pm, YouTube) | PWHL Finals, Game 1

Who will hoist the Walter Cup? The defending champion Minnesota Frost visit the Ottawa Charge to begin the best-of-five series.

Plus:

• ⚾️ MLB: Mets at Red Sox (6:45pm, TBS)

• 🏀 WNBA: Dream at Fever (7pm, NBA)

• ⚽️ EPL: Man City vs. Bournemouth (3pm, USA)

Today’s full slate.

🏀 NBA trivia

Here are the starting lineups the last time the Knicks and Pacers met in the Eastern Conference Finals (2000).

Question: What are the first names of all 10 starters listed above?

Answer at the bottom.

📸 Photo finish

“Air Puka” by Rams photographer Bryce Todd won the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 57th annual photo contest.

Behind the lens: As he positioned himself prior to the snap, Todd was struck by the way the sun was reflecting off the windows at Gillette. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “If I retire now, this was my drop-the-mic shot — the best I’ve ever gotten and maybe ever will get, although I’m going to keep at it.”

Trivia answer: Dale Davis, Jalen Rose, Rik Smits, Mark Jackson, Reggie Miller (Pacers); Larry Johnson, Latrell Sprewell, Patrick Ewing, Charlie Ward, Allan Houston (Knicks)

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