Tom Brady Returns to Football at the Fanatics Flag Football Classic
The inaugural Fanatics Flag Football Classic brings three star-studded teams to BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on March 21, featuring Tom Brady, Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, and the reigning IFAF World Champion U.S. Men's National Team in a primetime showcase on FOX.
At a Glance
- Three 12-player teams will compete in a round-robin tournament at BMO Stadium on March 21, airing live on FOX, FOX One, and Tubi from 4:00 to 8:30 p.m. ET
- The event was relocated from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Los Angeles after U.S. military operations expanded across the Middle East, landing it at the same venue that will host flag football at the 2028 Olympics
- The Classic features a 24-player draft pool of current and former NFL stars alongside the U.S. Men's National Team, with Pro Football Hall of Famers Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald serving as commissioners
Tom Brady will step onto a football field competitively for the first time since his 2023 retirement on March 21, when the inaugural Fanatics Flag Football Classic kicks off at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The event, a joint production of Fanatics Studios, Brady, and FOX Sports, brings together three 12-player squads for a round-robin tournament played under modified Olympic-style rules: five-on-five on a 50-by-25-yard field with two 15-minute halves and a running clock. Brady and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts co-captain Founders FFC, coached by Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, while Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow lead Wildcats FFC under San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. The third team is the reigning IFAF Flag Football World Champion U.S. Men's National Team, captained by Darrell "Housh" Doucette and Aamir Brown and coached by Jorge Cascudo.
The Roster
The player pool reads like a Pro Bowl roster layered with crossover star power. Saquon Barkley, Davante Adams, DeVonta Smith, Myles Garrett, Derwin James Jr., and Alvin Kamara headline a 24-player draft pool that Brady and Hurts will split with Daniels and Burrow on March 18, three days before competition. Former stars Rob Gronkowski and Odell Beckham Jr. are coming out of retirement for the event, while Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 inductees Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald will serve as commissioners. Kevin Hart hosts the broadcast, comedian Druski joins the commentary team, and athletes including IShowSpeed, Logan Paul, and Terence "Bud" Crawford round out the rosters.
From Riyadh to the Olympic Stage
The Classic was originally slated for Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as a centerpiece of Riyadh Season 2026, but organizers announced on March 9 that escalating military operations in the Middle East and a U.S. State Department advisory urging Americans to leave more than a dozen countries forced a relocation. The move to BMO Stadium proved significant: the venue, home to LAFC and Angel City FC, is the same ground where flag football will make its Olympic debut in 2028. "Having Team USA as the third team in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic elevates the already world-class talent participating in this tournament," Brady said in a statement. "The fact that we'll be playing in the same stadium that will host flag football during the Olympics will show the world a preview of what's to come in 2028."
A Sport on the Rise
The event airs live on FOX, FOX One, and Tubi from 4:00 to 8:30 p.m. ET, with Fanatics streaming internationally on YouTube. It arrives at a moment of unprecedented institutional backing for flag football. The NCAA added the sport to its Emerging Sports for Women program at the January 2026 Convention, with as many as 60 colleges expected to sponsor varsity programs by spring 2026 and projections approaching 100 by 2028. At the high school level, girls' participation surged 60 percent in 2024-25 to nearly 69,000 players, a 388 percent increase since the first post-pandemic survey, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. The NFL invested $32 million in professional flag football infrastructure in late 2025, and the league's owners passed a resolution permitting active players to compete in the 2028 Olympics. A primetime event on FOX headlined by Tom Brady, broadcast to a global audience, is the latest and perhaps most visible signal that flag football's trajectory from backyard game to Olympic sport is accelerating faster than anyone predicted.