Football Leagues and Associations: From NFL FLAG to the NFL

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A seven-year-old’s first NFL FLAG game on a Saturday morning. A high school senior signing with a Division II college at the kitchen table. A Grey Cup party in Canada, a spring UFL game, and in 2028, flag football in the Olympics. Football has more organizations than almost any sport, and knowing who runs what helps you find the right place to play. Here are the main football leagues and associations, from youth flag to the pros, as of the 2026 season.

For the sport at a glance, start at our football hub.

Who runs what: the quick map

Level	Main organizations	Rules used
Pro	NFL, CFL (Canada), UFL (spring)	Each league’s own rulebook
College	NCAA (FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III), NAIA, NJCAA and other junior-college leagues	NCAA rules
High school	NFHS and the state associations	NFHS rules (adapted by states)
Youth	NFL FLAG, Pop Warner, USA Football programs, local leagues	Each organization’s youth rules
National and international	USA Football (US governing body), IFAF (world), the IOC for LA 2028 flag football	IFAF rules for international play

Pro football

NFL

The National Football League has 32 teams, 16 in the American Football Conference (AFC) and 16 in the National Football Conference (NFC). The 2026 regular season runs from September 9, 2026, to January 10, 2027, with each team playing 17 games, a schedule the NFL introduced in 2021. Super Bowl LXI is set for February 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

CFL

The Canadian Football League has nine teams, five in the West Division and four in the East. Canadian football is its own game: 12 players a side and three downs instead of four. The CFL is also changing fast. For 2026 it trimmed the rouge (the single point for some missed kicks) and moved to a 35-second play clock, with 20 seconds in the last three minutes of each half. For 2027 it plans a 100-yard field with 15-yard end zones and goal posts at the back of the end zones. The 113th Grey Cup is scheduled for November 15, 2026, in Calgary.

UFL

The United Football League plays in the spring, outside the NFL season. In 2026 it had eight teams in one division over a 10-week season: the Birmingham Stallions, Columbus Aviators, Dallas Renegades, DC Defenders, Houston Gamblers, Louisville Kings, Orlando Storm and St. Louis Battlehawks.

College football

• NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision): 138 teams in 2026, including North Dakota State and Sacramento State, new from the FCS. The national champion comes out of the 12-team College Football Playoff, which stayed at 12 teams for 2026 after the conferences couldn’t agree on expansion. The 2027 title game is set for January 25 at Allegiant Stadium near Las Vegas.
• NCAA Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision): 128 teams in 2026, with a playoff bracket that ends in a national championship game in Nashville.
• NCAA Division II: 160 teams and a 32-team playoff.
• NCAA Division III: 244 teams and a 40-team playoff ending in the Stagg Bowl. DIII schools don’t give athletic scholarships, but the NCAA says about 80% of DIII athletes receive some academic or need-based aid.
• NAIA: 96 football teams in 2026 and a 20-team playoff.
• Junior college: two-year colleges play in the NJCAA and, in California, the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA). Many players use junior college as a path to a four-year program.

Women’s flag football in college. The NAIA already runs varsity women’s flag football. In January 2026, all three NCAA divisions added it to the Emerging Sports for Women program, and in May 2026 an NCAA committee recommended a national championship. If all three divisions approve it in January 2027, the first NCAA flag football championship is projected for spring 2028. Recruiting basics for players and parents are on our youth football page.

High school football

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) writes the playing rules most US high schools use, and each state’s association (for example the MHSAA in Michigan or the PIAA in Pennsylvania) runs its own season, playoffs and safety rules, such as contact limits and heat policies. In 2024-25, 1,029,588 boys played 11-player football at 14,269 schools. Small schools play 8-player (22,032 boys at 1,060 schools), 6-player and 9-player football, and 4,837 girls played on 11-player teams. Girls flag football is the fastest-growing new sport for girls: 68,847 players at 2,736 schools in 2024-25, up 60% in a year, and the NFHS wrote its first national flag football rules book for 2025-26. How the rules differ from college and the NFL is on our football rules page.

Youth football organizations

• NFL FLAG: the NFL’s youth flag program, which grew out of a 1994 youth camp series in New England. It says it serves more than 830,000 athletes aged 4 to 17 in over 2,000 leagues across all 50 states.
• Pop Warner: one of the best-known youth programs, for ages 5 to 16, with flag, Rookie Tackle and 11-player tackle. Pop Warner adopted USA Football’s development model in 2018, dropped kickoffs in its three youngest divisions in 2016, limits contact to 25% of practice time and was the first national program to drop the three-point stance for its youngest players.
• Local and independent leagues: many towns run their own tackle and flag leagues, often through parks departments, schools or groups like American Youth Football. Ask whether coaches are certified and which contact rules they follow.

USA Football: the national governing body

In April 2025, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee certified USA Football as the sport’s national governing body. It selects, trains and leads the US men’s and women’s national teams in both tackle and flag football, including for the Olympics. For families, USA Football matters because of its youth work: the Football Development Model, the Rookie Tackle format, practice and contact guidelines endorsed by sports medicine groups, and a youth coach certification that the U.S. Center for Coaching Excellence accredits. It covers tackling and blocking technique, concussion recognition, heat and hydration, and sudden cardiac issues. The details are on our youth football page.

International football and the Olympics

The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) governs tackle and flag football worldwide. The IOC gave it full recognition in 2023, when it had 74 affiliated national federations, and IFAF runs world and continental championships in both versions of the game.

Flag football at LA 2028 is the sport’s Olympic debut. The IOC added it in October 2023. There will be six men’s and six women’s teams of 10 players, playing 5v5 on a 50-yard field with two 20-minute halves, at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The US qualifies automatically as host. In 2025, NFL clubs voted to let NFL players take part, through a tryout or qualifying process run by each country’s federation.

Gear for every level

From the backyard to Friday night, the ball and the setup change with the level. The Wilson GST is an official-size leather game ball, made in Ada, Ohio. The Wilson NFL Super Grip in junior size (Wilson says ages 9-12) suits younger players. The Franklin Sports 10-player flag set brings the Olympic 5v5 format to your local park. Prices change often. These are what we saw at a major retailer in October 2026.

Pro and college teams track every sprint with GPS; our GPS trackers for team sports guide shows the versions players can buy. For pads and mouth guards, see football gear, and for how soccer’s world is organized, see soccer leagues and associations.

Football leagues and associations questions

How many teams are in the NFL?

Thirty-two, split evenly between the AFC and the NFC. Each plays a 17-game regular season.

What is the difference between FBS and FCS?

Both are NCAA Division I. FBS (138 teams in 2026) decides its champion through the 12-team College Football Playoff and the bowl games. FCS (128 teams) plays a bracket tournament that ends in a national championship game.

Who is the governing body for American football in the US?

USA Football, certified by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee in April 2025. The NFL, NCAA and NFHS still write the rules for their own levels.

Can NFL players play flag football at the 2028 Olympics?

Yes. NFL clubs approved it in 2025. Players still have to earn a spot through their country’s tryout or qualifying process, and each roster has 10 players.

Is girls flag football a high school sport?

In a fast-growing number of states, yes. Nearly 69,000 girls played in 2024-25, and the NFHS now publishes national rules for it. Check your state association to see whether it’s sanctioned where you live.