Flag football is 'critical' to the growth of the NFL, according to CMO Tim Ellis

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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.

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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.

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