The Charleston Southern University athletic department announced the addition of women’s flag football as a varsity intercollegiate sport to be added to the university’s offerings on Jan. 27.
Their first competitive season will be in the spring of 2028 and will bring the total varsity sport program count to 17, while the women’s athletics teams count grows to 10. Women’s flag football becomes the first varsity sport to be added to the university since women’s soccer in the fall of 1993.
The nationwide search for the program’s first head coach will begin immediately. CSU would play a minimum of 12 games per season and a maximum of 24, with games to be played on the CSU intramural field.
The move makes the Buccaneers the 14th NCAA Division I athletic department to announce they will be sponsoring flag football at the varsity level. Earlier this month, the University of Nebraska was the latest to announce plans to add the sport, becoming the first Power 4 school to declare its intention.
On Jan. 16, the NCAA announced that women’s flag football was added to the Emerging Sports for Women program. That vote makes way for the sport to be eligible to pursue championship status and host its first as soon as the spring of 2028.
“It is with great anticipation and excitement that today we announce the addition of women’s flag football to our current 16 Division 1 sports department,” said CSU Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Jeff Barber. “As an NCAA emerging sport for women, flag football has experienced monumental growth over the past couple of years. We are thrilled about this for our campus and the community. We look forward to building this program that will assist with Title IX requirements, and at the same time provide an outstanding academic and athletics experience for future Charleston Southern University student athletes.”
As of the summer of 2025, NCAA sponsorship data showed that more than 40 schools across all divisions planned to sponsor the sport in the 2025-26 academic year. The NCAA is continuing to expect increases in sponsorship, including the possibility of as many as 60 schools announcing plans to participate in the sport next spring.
“The addition of women’s flag football to Division I sports at CSU expands opportunities and positions CSU to attract the best and brightest talent in this rapidly growing sport,” said CSU President B. Keith Faulkner. “As the first Big South Conference school to make this announcement, we are proud to lead the way and help shape the future of women’s athletics in our conference.”
The growth of flag football has happened the most at the high school level. There are 17 states that have it sanctioned by their high school league, including Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. There are another 21 in the piloting phase for the sport, which includes South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
Additionally, it is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, with it set to make its Olympic debut in 2028 at the Los Angeles Summer Olympics. In terms of players, there are 20 million worldwide, with 3.6 million in the United States between the ages of 6 and 17. At the high school level, this academic year has seen 69,000 girls play the sport. In the 2018-2019 academic year, the number was 11,000 and has growth by a 35 percent annual average since then.
“The launch of Charleston Southern University’s women’s flag football program marks an exciting step forward for collegiate athletics,” said Jesse Schulman, NFL Manager of Flag Football. “By embracing this opportunity, CSU is helping accelerate the growth of flag football and expanding access to the sport for female student-athletes. This launch sends a strong message about the future of the game and the growing momentum behind women’s flag football, creating new opportunities for young women to compete and succeed at the collegiate level.”
“Women’s flag football is creating one of the most important new pipelines in sports today, not just for competition, but for leadership, education and long-term opportunity,” said Izell Reese, CEO of RCX Sports. “When universities like Charleston Southern step forward at the varsity level, it sends a clear signal to young women that this sport has a real future. Programs like this accelerate access, scholarships and visibility, and ultimately help legitimize flag football as a sustainable pathway from youth to college and beyond.”
Recently, NFL clubs voted to support the development and launch of a professional flag football league financially. All 32 NFL clubs support and participate in youth flag football programming in their home markets and beyond, further strengthening the sport’s reach and appeal among the next generation of athletes.
To be considered for an NCAA championship legislatively, sports in the Emerging Sports for Women program must be sponsored at the varsity level by at least 40 schools, based on the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates data, and must meet their minimum competition and participant requirements. If legislation is adopted, the NCAA governance structure works to establish a championship. That process can take two years or longer to work through logistics such as budgeting, site selection and other details.