Tom Brady is returning to football. Well, technically not football, but he sure has his cleats taken out of the cupboard for Flag Football in Saudi Arabia. Now, of course, the NFL has taken itself out of the equation by warning the teams that this would not be an NFL production. Meaning? Players shall not be subject to the protection of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. However, insider Mike Florio believes that the league should be more cautious moving forward.
It’s not going to be a normal game like those NFL games on foreign lands. This is the Saudi Arabia flag football tournament we’re talking about, to be held on March 21, 2026. Soccer is already known to be a big thing in Saudi Arabia, but with the intention to diversify their economy, Turki Al-Sheikh, the chairman of the country’s General Entertainment Authority, has also been hosting boxing, tennis, and horse races. And now, they’re set to host a Flag Football tournament, which would follow the same format as the 2028 Olympic Games. It would be played during Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season. As simple as it may sound, the Pro Football Network insider doesn’t think it would be limited to that. He painted a stark, unfiltered picture for Roger Goodell in the latest edition of the NFL on NBC.
“NFL isn’t complaining about it because it promotes flag football globally, and you got Tom Brady involved, you got multiple players involved,” began Florio in a conversation with Michael Holley. “I think the NFL should be very concerned about this. I think this is the baby step toward doing the thing that they did to Golf.” Just last year, Saudi Arabia tried to sway the PGA Tour with a $1.5 billion offer. It ended up failing as the refused to soften its stance against the Public Investment Fund. As a result, the sport’s elite were caught between fractured loyalties and stalled negotiations.
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Florio believes Saudi Arabia could try the same in the NFL. “ If they decide they’re going to do this, they’ve got the money to outspend the NFL. They could show up and play on Sundays. They could play on Fridays and Saturdays, too. They’re not going to be bound by the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.” This Act makes an exception to antitrust rules for professional sports leagues. It lets leagues like the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL combine all their teams’ TV rights and sell them together through exclusive national contracts. “If they do it as a one, single operation, they don’t have to worry about antitrust. It’s one league. It’s not owned by a bunch of different people, so it doesn’t become independent businesses who can’t engage in antitrust violations. They can compete with the NFL, they can attract NFL talent.”
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Florio believes the league has a strategy in place if Saudi Arabia shows interest. He thinks the NFL would offer the Saudis a share, almost like creating a new team that owns a piece of everything. “They’re part of the NFL, they may not want that, they may want more, they may want their own thing. So if I were the NFL, I would be extremely concerned about this.” If that happens, there’s a chance that the seven-time Super Bowl champion may be named as Commissioner. Talking realistically, what do you think he’ll pick between being a minority stakeholder of the Raiders or Commissioner of the Saudi Arabian Pro Football League? It’s no brainer. Plus, given the kind of money their Public Investment Fund has, there’s a good chance they can attract more talent from the league. After all, they were willing to put $1.5 billion in golf.
NFL stars cleared for Saudi Flag football tournament
As the announcement of the Saudi Arabia flag football tournament made headlines with the legendary Brady confirming his return to the field, seven more players have committed to it. It includes Saquon Barkley, CeeDee Lamb, Christian McCaffrey, Maxx Crosby, Sauce Gardner, Myles Garrett, Brock Bowers, Tyreek Hill, George Kittle, Fred Warner, and Brady’s pal, Rob Gronkowski. Despite the involvement of such notable names, the league has made it clear it shall not bear any liability if the participating players suffer any injury.
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“This Event is not an NFL-sanctioned event, and the league has no role in the organization or production of the game. Any injury sustained while participating in the Event will be considered a Non-Football Injury,” the official memo by the team read. Translation? If an NFL player gets hurt while playing, there won’t be any extra help for the roster, protection for his contract, or guaranteed backup plans. It’s entirely under the NFL team’s control over whether to give written approval for their players to participate. If they decide to let star players join these games, any risk or negative outcome falls only on the players themselves.