Flag football is 'critical' to the growth of the NFL, according to CMO Tim Ellis
Business Insider spoke with NFL CMO Tim Ellis at Cannes Lions 2024. He told us how important flag football is to the growth of the league.
Transcript
00:00DeAndre Hopkins and Justin Jefferson, they say they want to play and win a medal in LA
00:06Tuning.
00:07We'll see how that all works out.
00:13We now have over 200 million people in the U.S. who are fans, but really, if we look
00:19for the big growth for the NFL, it is outside our own borders.
00:23So that's why, like, for example, this example this year, we'll have five games, not only
00:28in Europe, but now also in Sao Paulo and Brazil, right?
00:31Next year, we're going to be in Spain and Madrid.
00:33And some of the areas that we're looking at in Asia and the Middle East and other parts
00:37of the world is really exciting, right?
00:39So having the games there, allowing these new fans to experience the game in all its
00:45glory, to see football the way it should be played with the right teams.
00:50The other thing that we're doing is we're really helping young people in all these countries
00:57realize their dreams to be an NFL player.
00:59So we're offering programs in FLAG, which, again, is the most inclusive, the easiest
01:04expression of our game to get involved with.
01:06It doesn't take a lot of equipment.
01:08Everyone can play.
01:09It's gender neutral.
01:10Any size or shape, you know, can play and enjoy the game.
01:13And for us, that is critical, both on a short-term basis and a long-term basis.
01:17Because if you play the game, you are four times as likely to become a fan.
01:21On top of that, you know, if you don't become a fan by the time you're 18, you're never
01:25going to become a fan.
01:27All of our data shows that.
01:28I mean, there's simply no acquisition strategy for a 34-year-old, right?
01:32So we have to ensure that our young people are fans by the time that they're 18.
01:38And FLAG football, through participation, is a great way to do that.
01:42And we've spent a tremendous amount of time thinking about how to put that up, elevate
01:47it to our highest level of the expression of the game itself in all of our big TV commercials
01:53and all of our big marketing activities, our best players who are ambassadors of the
01:57game.
01:58I think that historically, people weren't really taking the game seriously of FLAG.
02:03And so we've been doing a lot of work together with some of the best players in the world
02:07of legitimizing FLAG.
02:08And now, just this year, it was decided that we're going to have FLAG in the LA-28 Olympics,
02:13which is huge.
02:14We also, two years ago, we started having our Pro Bowl with our players actually playing
02:19FLAG in the Pro Bowl.
02:21So that means like the elite, most of the top NFL players are coming together once a
02:26year to play a game, not of tackle, but play a game of FLAG to show just how awesome that
02:31game is.
02:32And guess what?
02:33The players are actually having more fun than they did even when they were playing the Pro
02:36Bowl with helmets and with pads.
02:39DeAndre Hopkins and Justin Jefferson, who are with me here in Cannes, they're huge advocates
02:44for FLAG.
02:45They love it.
02:46And they're personally involved in helping young people enjoy that side of the game.
02:50They say they want to play and win a medal in LA-28.
02:55We'll see how that all works out.