Former NFLer Tom Brady, Fanatics, Fox Sports and OBB Media are teaming up for a flag football event on March 21 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “The Fanatics Flag Football Classic” will feature three teams of eight facing off in a round-robin tournament with the top two teams advancing to a championship. Teams will include current and former pro football players and other athletes. Confirmed players include Brady, Eagles RB Saquon Barkley, Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb, 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey, Jets CB Sauce Gardner, Browns DE Myles Garrett, Raiders TE Brock Bowers and DE Maxx Crosby, Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill, free agent WR Odell Beckham Jr. and former NFLer Rob Gronkowski. The teams will be led by Raiders coach Pete Carroll, Broncos coach Sean Payton and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan. The event, produced by OBB Media and Fanatics in association with Shadow Lion, will air live on Fox Sports and Tubi with Kevin Hart serving as host. The games will follow Olympic-style flag football rules, played on a 50-yard field with two 10-yard end zones, a 5-on-5 format and two 20-minute halves (Fox Sports).
Several NFL owners are “also expected to attend.” The event is the league’s “first step toward potentially entering the Saudi market” as it continues “expanding across the globe at an increasing pace.” The NFL is “evaluating new markets” like the United Arab Emirates, Japan and other countries with little connection to football. It “will not play a regular season game in these places unless football is played locally -- it is a niche sport in Saudi Arabia -- and there are significant commercial opportunities like media and sponsorship deals” (N.Y. TIMES, 9/15).
In L.A., Steve Henson wrote the event is “a business plan disguised as a promotional stunt.” The NFL “makes no secret that it is going global,” and Saudi Arabia “makes no secret about broadening its sports holdings.” Fanatics, which is an exclusive licensed retailer of NFL online merchandise, will sponsor the flag football event as a business venture as well. The Saudi PIF and the Qatari sovereign wealth fund have invested in Fanatics (L.A. TIMES, 9/15).
