1st women’s flag football national collegiate tournament coming to Tempe

The Fiesta Sports Foundation will host the first collegiate women's flag football national tournament in Tempe in April.

BY BRANDON BROWN/PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL

Feb 2, 2026, 6:23 AM Updated: 10:31 am

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The Fiesta Sports Foundation, the Scottsdale-based organization behind the Fiesta Bowl, announced Thursday it will launch another national college football game, this time with women’s flag football.

In April, the Fiesta Sports Foundation will host a two-day, eight-team collegiate flag football competition on Arizona State University’s Tempe campus called the Fiesta Bowl Flag Football Classic.

The event, scheduled for April 18-19, will take place on ASU’s the Fields at Dorsey.

Flag football is one of the fastest-growing youth sports in the country with more than 2.5 million athletes competing annually and now more than 150 NCAA institutions currently offering flag football programs at the club or varsity level. In 2025, Flag football earned recognition as an NCAA Emerging Sport for Women by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Flag football will also make its debut as an Olympic sport at the 2028 games in Los Angeles.

This story is posted in partnership with Phoenix Business Journal. Click to read the full story.