Nfl Bets Big On Saudi Arabia With Tom Brady-led Flag Football Showcase

The National Football League is making a important move to raise its world floor plan aft years of struggling to grow beyond its home roots.

The convention announced past week that nan Fanatics Flag Football Classic, headlined by seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, will return spot connected 21 March 2026, astatine Kingdom Arena successful Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The showcase arena is expected to service arsenic a awesome lead-in to emblem football’s debut astatine nan 2028 Olympics successful Los Angeles, wherever nan NFL hopes nan sport’s inclusion will accelerate its maturation worldwide.

Produced by OBB Media and Fanatics, nan Fanatics Flag Football Classic will characteristic a round-robin tourney pinch 3 teams composed of erstwhile NFL greats and existent stars, including Saquon Barkley (Philadelphia Eagles), CeeDee Lamb (Dallas Cowboys), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco 49ers), Sauce Gardner (New York Jets), Brock Bowers (Las Vegas Raiders), Maxx Crosby (Las Vegas Raiders), Tyreek Hill (Miami Dolphins) and Myles Garrett (Cleveland Browns).

“I person ever admired nan powerfulness of emblem shot and really it connects fans of each ages, and it’s awesome to beryllium capable to showcase nan athletics connected specified a world shape while joining together truthful galore incredibly skilled athletes,” Brady said successful a property release.

Organizers said further participants from different sports and nan intermezo manufacture will beryllium announced later. The arena will characteristic 3 teams of 8 players facing disconnected successful a round-robin tournament, pinch nan apical 2 advancing to a title game. It will aerial unrecorded connected FOX Sports and Tubi, pinch character and comedian Kevin Hart serving arsenic host.

Garrett, 1 of nan NFL’s premier protect players, said his determination to participate stems from a desire to thief grow nan game’s reach.

“Just for illustration each different athletics has grown worldwide, we want to make [American football] nan world’s game,” Garrett told nan Guardian. “We’re proud to beryllium ambassadors for this beautiful crippled that we love.”

The NFL’s move comes arsenic Saudi Arabia continues to grow its power successful world sports, investing billions of dollars to bring awesome events and athletes to nan kingdom. Its push has included nan motorboat of LIV Golf successful 2022, lucrative deals to pull immoderate of nan world’s apical shot players, and high-profile boxing matches – each portion of a broader effort to reshape its world image done sports.

The Guardian’s Rob Booth tries retired emblem shot successful London past year. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

There was hesitation by galore athletes past to participate, and Saudi Arabia faced aggravated disapproval successful 2022 erstwhile it launched LIV Golf, a rival convention to nan PGA Tour backed by its sovereign wealthiness fund. Now nan PGA and LIV person a moving agreement.

Garrett said location are ever challenges erstwhile starting thing new.

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it,” he said. “You should return that into relationship and find a measurement to make yourself different and still appealing. We’re trying to do that. We still emotion nan crippled here, but we want to spot it turn and find caller areas of talent.”

For Garrett, it’s different chance to showcase his athletics connected a world stage. But for critics, it’s portion of a overmuch bigger statement astir what domiciled Saudi Arabia – and its billions – should play successful nan world of sports.

Critics impeach Saudi Arabia of “sportswashing” – utilizing high-profile sports investments to amended its world image and divert attraction from a grounds of quality authorities abuses, including nan execution of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, nan suppression of dissent, and ongoing restrictions connected women’s authorities and LGBTQ+ individuals.

“When high-profile athletes aliases celebrities participate, it sends signals to world audiences that Saudi Arabia is simply a ‘regular’ big of awesome sporting events,” said Nadyeen Abdulaziz, monitoring and defense serviceman for ALQST for Human Rights. “This tin dilute captious attraction to nan kingdom’s quality authorities grounds and displacement nan communicative toward economical opportunity, tourism, aliases entertainment, efficaciously softening nan effect of anterior critiques.”

Ali Alyami, executive head of nan Center for Democracy and Human Rights successful Saudi Arabia, said nan Saudi ruling family’s royal finance successful sports is designed to divert world attraction from its belief extremism and gross violations of basal quality rights.

Yet moreover amid those concerns, nan NFL’s ambitions agelong beyond immoderate azygous arena aliases country. The Riyadh showcase isn’t conscionable astir 1 nighttime of shot successful nan desert; it’s portion of a semipermanent push to toggle shape a uniquely American crippled into a genuinely world sport.

And pinch emblem shot poised to participate nan Olympics, nan stakes are acold larger than a azygous exhibition. For nan league, nan Fanatics Flag Football Classic could people nan commencement of a caller section – 1 wherever emblem shot becomes a world arena and nan NFL’s early is nary longer confined to American shores and a fistful of world games during nan regular season.

“This will beryllium nan eventual ceremony for shot fans everyplace and present a full caller assemblage to America’s astir celebrated game,” said Michael D Ratner, OBB Media Founder and CEO, successful a property release. “Flag shot is nan fastest-growing athletics successful nan world, and pinch [Olympics 2028] connected nan horizon, nan timing couldn’t beryllium amended to showcase it connected a world stage.”

• The NFL did not respond to a petition for comment.