Company Description
Flag football league building a community of fans and players across the U.S.Flag Football is the fastest growing team sport in the US over the last ten years, now exceeding Lacrosse, Ice Hockey and Rugby combined in participation, according to the SFIA. Five years ago tackle football exceeded flag football by 1M players. Today flag exceeds tackle by 1.5M. How can there be a sport that is already so big, and growing so quickly, but lacks the aspirational league that is so common in every other sport? That's where we come in. In our first two seasons, over 6,000 players representing over 600 teams registered to play. In both 2018 and 2019, the top 128 teams participated and played all over the country and in Europe. Hundreds of talented amateurs were joined by some of the best to ever play in the NFL, including Mike Vick, Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco. Our Launch game has 2.8mm+ YouTube views, including over 715,000 completions of a 2 hour video. Our 11 games in 2018 on the NFL Network brought in 1.1M viewers, leading to our current 2-year deal with CBS.So many significant trends serve as tailwinds for our mission to bring Flag to the world: concerns about the safety of traditional football, the increasing value of sports franchises and sports content, the proliferation of digital distributors who desperately need content, the growth of fantasy, gamification and gambling, the increased identification of fans with individual stars as opposed to teams, the increased interest in Women's sports, and the continued organic growth of participation. Flag is neither a replacement nor a criticism of the traditional game of tackle football. The AFFL and Flag Football stand on our own, offering entertainment that appeals to the most prized demographic in media, the under-34 crowd. We are resonating with the new breed of sports fan that wants a new game, presented in an innovative way using cutting edge technology.
Key Deal Facts
Over 5B estimated press impressions including features in ESPN, Bleacher, Barstool, NBC, NY Times, WSJ, and Wired
Prior NFL Partnership and NFL Network Deal for 2018 season
Large Facebook Live following with over 1.7M views across the 2019 finals
Multiyear deal with CBS Sports to begin broadcasting games this fall
Partnership with USA Football for USA Mens and Womens National Teams
Management Team / Advisory Board Bios
Jeff Lewis, Founder & CEO
30+ years of Wall Street hedge fund and portfolio management experience. Avid Football fan and Flag Football coach.
Kate Carney, General Counsel
Kate Carney is an experienced business consultant, lawyer and strategic advisor. Today she works with startups, from formation to exit. Kate has broad corporate experience, including mergers & acquisitions, equity structures, financing arrangements, securities law, commercial contracts, and strategic partnerships. She is an expert in corporate governance best practices and has counseled CEOs, founders, corporate directors, and investors with respect to a range of board matters, crisis response and reputational risk, and stakeholder engagement.She has 16+ years of legal experience. Previously, she worked with corporate and hedge fund clients, including as General Counsel of a $6bn hedge fund.
Michelle Roque, Head of Marketing & Social
Michelle has played flag football her entire life. After a few flag videos went viral she was recruited to play on the U.S. National Team. In 2018, She helped her team win their First Gold medal. With millions of views on her videos, she continues to lead as a role model for kids and women around the world.
Barry Pincus, CFO
Barry Pincus, CPA, is a strategic and operations executive who specializes in content and the intersection of content and technology. He has over 35 years of experience working for some of the most significant media and entertainment brands including the New York Yankees, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Maxim magazine. He has assisted ventures in raising over $15 million in capital, and helped companies increase both the bottom and top line. Barry has been a trusted advisor with respect to corporate governance, cost management, process engineering and digital transformation while building brands and brand equity.
