Eli Manning's Firm Buys NFL FLAG Operator RCX Sports

Brand Velocity Group, a private investment firm whose partners include two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning, has acquired RCX Sports, the company that operates NFL FLAG and a roster of other professional-league youth programs. The deal, announced June 4 and backed by Manning along with fellow former pros Emmitt Smith, Larry Fitzgerald, and Jameis Winston, hands one of the most influential engines of flag football's grassroots growth to a buyer betting heavily on youth sports.

RCX was acquired from Raine Partners, the merchant bank that previously owned it. Founder and chief executive Izell Reese and the current management team will remain in place, and the company will continue to operate under its own brand. Financial terms were not disclosed.

What RCX Sports Does

RCX Sports describes itself as the leading professional league-backed youth sports platform in North America. In practice, that means it is the licensed operator behind some of the most recognizable names in youth athletics. RCX manages the official licenses for NFL FLAG, Major League Soccer's MLS GO, the NBA and WNBA's Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA leagues, Major League Baseball's Pitch, Hit & Run, and the NHL's Street program. By its own account it is the only multi-sport organization trusted by professional leagues across the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS, and MLB, and in 2026 Fast Company named it to its list of Most Innovative Companies.

The model is built on the broad base of the youth sports pyramid: recreational players rather than elite travel teams. RCX's pitch to families and local operators is accessibility and affordability, easing the cost and administrative burden of running organized leagues. That positioning has made it a quiet but central player in the youth sports economy, even if most parents know it only by the league logos on their children's jerseys.

What It Means to Operate NFL FLAG

Operating NFL FLAG is the clearest illustration of what RCX does. The NFL owns the brand; RCX runs the league. Under its license, RCX supplies the structure that turns the NFL's name into thousands of local recreational leagues: the rulebook, the branded uniforms and equipment, the registration and scheduling systems, and the network of local operators who actually put kids on the field. It also runs the postseason that sits atop that pyramid. The NFL FLAG Championships, presented by Toyota, are scheduled for July 23 to 26 at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana, drawing hundreds of boys' and girls' youth teams along with international entrants.

That license carries weight because NFL FLAG is a primary on-ramp to the sport. It is the version of flag football that introduces most American kids to the game, and it feeds the same talent and fan pipeline the NFL is now investing in at the professional and Olympic levels. RCX has extended the same operating playbook into the college game, helping run events such as the NAIA Women's Flag Football Invitational and the College Flag Finals as women's college flag football expands.

The Money Behind the Deal

For Brand Velocity Group, RCX is a cornerstone of a new sports-focused vertical the firm calls BVG Sports. The transaction drew a broad investor group that includes Hamilton Lane's impact platform, St. Cloud Capital, Darco Capital, and Three Ocean Partners, alongside the athlete partners. BVG is known for a "Share the Gains" program that turns portfolio-company employees into equity holders.

"RCX was built to expand access to youth sports at scale, while delivering the quality, consistency, and trust our professional league partners, operators, and families expect," said Izell Reese, the company's founder and chief executive. "With BVG's support, we can deepen our partnerships and remove more barriers to play."

Eli Manning, a partner at BVG and a two-time Super Bowl champion, framed the deal around participation. "RCX has built a differentiated platform at the intersection of youth participation, professional league partnerships, and community impact," he said. "I've seen firsthand how sports can shape lives, and I'm excited to help RCX expand access to those experiences for more young athletes and families across the country."

A Bet on the Grassroots

The acquisition lands at a moment when flag football has rarely carried more momentum. The sport will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, the NFL is helping launch a professional flag league through a partnership with TMRW Sports, and the NCAA designated women's flag football an emerging sport for women in January 2026. Flag football now counts an estimated 20 million participants across more than 100 countries, and most of those players begin at the recreational level RCX serves. The deal is a wager that the grassroots base of the sport, the part that rarely makes headlines, is where the next phase of growth and value will be built.