TMRW Sports Hires Brendan Donohue and Champ Kelly

In the span of nine days, the professional flag football league the NFL is building with TMRW Sports went from a venture with money behind it to an organization with leadership. On July 21, TMRW Sports announced Brendan Donohue as its first president of flag football, reporting directly to founder and CEO Mike McCarley. On July 30, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the second major hire: Champ Kelly, the former Raiders and Dolphins interim general manager, joins as senior vice president of flag football operations, reporting to Donohue.

The pairing is deliberate. Donohue has launched and scaled a professional league before; Kelly has spent nearly two decades building NFL rosters. Both will work out of TMRW Sports' Orlando headquarters as the company races to stand up men's and women's leagues before the sport's Olympic debut in Los Angeles in July 2028.

Brendan Donohue, the League Builder

Brendan Donohue led the NBA 2K League from its 2017 launch until late 2023 before joining TMRW Sports as president of flag football. Photo: NBA.com / Getty Images.

Donohue arrives with nearly three decades in the business of basketball. He held senior roles with Palace Sports and Entertainment, the Atlanta Hawks, the New Orleans Hornets and the Milwaukee Bucks before joining the NBA league office, where he rose to senior vice president of the Team Marketing and Business Operations group, the internal consulting arm that advises all 30 franchises. In 2017 he was tapped to launch the NBA 2K League, the first esports league operated by a major U.S. sports property, and he ran it from its founding until stepping down in October 2023. Under his leadership the league grew from 17 NBA-owned franchises to 25 teams, adding international entries in Australia, China and Mexico. Since January 2025 he had served at the agency Elevate as special adviser to the CEO and managing partner of its talent practice.

"Brendan has three decades of experience building the businesses of NBA teams and launching a first-of-its-kind professional league with the NBA," McCarley said in the announcement.

Donohue framed the assignment as a rare one. "Flag football is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, and it's an honor to have the opportunity to help establish its professional future," he said.

Champ Kelly, the Football Man

Champ Kelly spent 19 seasons in NFL front offices with the Broncos, Bears, Raiders and Dolphins before joining TMRW Sports. Photo: Las Vegas Raiders.

Kelly, 46, brings the football credibility. Born Anthony Kelly in Campbellton, Florida, he played wide receiver and cornerback at Kentucky from 1998 to 2001, earned a computer science degree and an MBA, and worked as a software engineer at IBM while winning an indoor league title and twice earning first-team all-league honors with the Lexington Horsemen. His front office career began in Denver in 2007, where he climbed from regional college scout to assistant director of pro personnel over eight seasons. He spent seven years with the Bears as director of pro scouting and then assistant director of player personnel, joined the Raiders as assistant general manager in 2022, and ran the team as interim general manager after Dave Ziegler's dismissal in 2023. The Dolphins hired him as a senior personnel executive in March 2025 and handed him the interim general manager job that October; he has interviewed for permanent general manager openings in Denver, Atlanta and Jacksonville. At TMRW Sports he will oversee player personnel, coaching, officiating and team administration for both leagues.

"Champ is the ideal person to lead our flag football operations," Donohue said. "His nearly two decades of experience in NFL player personnel, including serving as general manager for two NFL franchises, will provide invaluable expertise as we build a world-class organization. His passion for this role has been fueled, in part, as the father of three daughters and the opportunity to help create a league that opens new pathways for men and women."

Kelly, who has three daughters, pointed to the women's side of the venture as part of the draw. "As a former football player, I understand what it means to compete with the support of a world-class organization behind you, and nearly 20 years in NFL front offices have given me the leadership, relationships and experience to help build that environment for elite flag football athletes from around the globe," he said.

The Road to Launch

The hires fill out a business that has moved quickly since the NFL and TMRW Sports announced their partnership on March 30. The league is funded by all 32 NFL ownership groups, which authorized an investment of up to 32 million dollars, alongside institutional investors and a roster of athlete backers that includes Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Serena Williams and Billie Jean King. TMRW Sports has said the league will feature a draft and a combine, named world champion Ashlea Klam its first professional ambassador in June, and has engaged the architecture firm Populous on venue design while a host city search continues.

The market the new front office inherits keeps growing underneath it. More than 20 million people play flag football across roughly 100 countries, U.S. youth participation has climbed past 4.1 million, an increase of more than 50 percent since 2020, and the sport makes its Olympic debut at LA 2028, where the men's and women's tournaments run July 15 to 22 at Exposition Park Stadium. TMRW Sports has also formed a strategic alliance with the International Federation of American Football and is supporting next month's IFAF World Championship in Düsseldorf, the first direct Olympic qualifier. Donohue and Kelly now have two years to turn that momentum into a league worth watching.