Nebraska Athletics adding varsity women’s flag football team

The University of Nebraska Athletic Department announced Friday that it will add flag football as a women’s intercollegiate varsity sport. The Huskers’ announcement follows a decision revealed Friday by the NCAA that it would add flag football to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.

The NCAA said flag football has been one of the fastest-growing sports in the country at the youth, high school and collegiate levels. It’s also being added as a sport for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Nebraska is the first Power Four Conference school to announce the addition of women’s flag football. In the announcement Friday, the athletic department said it will field a team to play an inaugural competitive flag football season in the spring of 2028 with the season running from January to May. The department will “immediately begin the process of searching for a head coach and building a roster this spring, with plans to have a coach hired by summer and recruit a roster of approximately 15 players by the start of the fall 2026 semester.”

“This is a banner day for Nebraska Athletics and for women’s sports,” Nebraska Director of Athletics Troy Dannen said in the announcement. “In a time of uncertainty and change in college athletics, creating new participation opportunities continues Nebraska’s rich history of elevating women’s athletics. Flag football is one of the nation’s fastest growing sports and has exploded in popularity at the youth, high school and collegiate level. There is also great synergy in our first season in 2028 aligning with the inclusion of flag football at the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.”

According to the athletic department, sports in the Emerging Sports for Women program must be sponsored at the varsity level by at least 40 schools, based on the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates data, and must meet their sport's minimum competition and participant requirements, in order to be “legislatively considered for an NCAA championship.”

If legislation is adopted, the NCAA governance structure works to establish a championship. The Huskers said that process can take two years or longer to work through logistics such as budgeting, site selection and other details.

Nebraska hosted a women’s flag exhibition game last season as part of the Husker Games weekend, with a group of intramural athletes from UNL taking on Midland University’s varsity flag football team.

The addition of a women’s flag football team to Nebraska’s list of athletics would give the Huskers 25 intercollegiate programs, with 15 women’s teams and 10 men’s teams. Flag football is the first sport Nebraska has added since beach volleyball began in 2013.

“Congratulations to the University of Nebraska and the NCAA for taking this significant step in support of women’s flag football,” Big Ten Conference Commissioner Tony Petitti said in the announcement Friday. “We are happy to see Nebraska provide additional opportunities for student-athletes to compete at the highest level.”

The Huskers will hold a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 21 in the Hawks Championship Center Media Room to make the official announcement.