The NFL is moving the Pro Bowl to Super Bowl week with an eye towards the introduction of flag football at the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
‘We’ve spent a lot of time evolving our Pro Bowl, talking about how to make our Pro Bowl more attractive, both for our players participating, but also our fans,’ NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said at the league meetings in Manhattan on Wednesday. ‘We’ve spent a great deal of time talking about the objectives, and the objectives really are to celebrate and honor our incredible players and second is to use our game as a global platform.’
And it’s that global platform that sparked the NFL’s decision to move the Pro Bowl to Super Bowl LV week, when much of the world will be focused on the Bay Area.
‘We’ve decided that we’re going to use the platform we have, obviously with the Olympics coming up, players having the ability to participate, to move the Pro Bowl into our biggest week with our biggest players, and that’s the Super Bowl week,’ Goodell said.
Previously held on the Sunday before the Super Bowl, the upcoming flag football All-Star extravaganza will kick off on Tuesday, February 3, at 8pm EST on ESPN, Disney XD and ESPN Deportes. It will be held at the 4,000-seat Moscone Center in San Francisco – the same venue hosting the Super Bowl experience fan fest.
The Pro Bowl had been criticized for years over its lack of competitiveness as players were reluctant to play at full speed and risk injury. In 2023, the NFL adopted a flag football game to replace the fully padded exhibition.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell speaks during a news conference at the NFL meetings
The flag football game will take place at the Moscone Center on Tuesday, February 3
Justin Jefferson of the Vikings has his flag pulled by Derwin James Jr. of the Chargers
That move dovetailed nicely with the league’s efforts to promote flag football as a safer, more inclusive alternative to traditional tackle football.
The format will remain the same: AFC vs. NFC stars, although the Peyton and Eli Manning will not be coaching, as they did last February. However, the brothers are expected to remain involved with the event, according to NFL executive VP of international events Peter O’Reilly.
O’Reilly went on to say the league could switch to a more international format in 2027 to further promote flag football at the Olympics.
‘Flag has become a global game,’ Goodell said. ‘Our players have embraced playing that in the all-star format, and we think it’s really important to continue that initiative.’
