Cardinals partner to help broadcast girls high school flag football in 2024

The Arizona Cardinals, Arizona’s Family Sports and State Farm announced a partnership to promote girls high school flag football with television and streaming broadcasts throughout the 2024 season.

The Cardinals said they are the first NFL team to help broadcast the sport. The first planned matchup is Sept. 17 when Hamilton High School in Chandler faces Xavier College Preparatory in Phoenix.

Seven other games of the week on Arizona’s Family Sports will take place on Tuesday or Thursday nights up until Nov. 7.

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“We think it’s an exciting way really to elevate these athletes and put a spotlight on them,” Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “Men’s high school football is broadcast here locally, as you know. We think the women athletes deserve that as well. We think other NFL teams will follow us maybe even this season … certainly next season. This game is continuing to grow at an exponential rate and it’s exploding here in Arizona.”

Girls high school flag football in Arizona is relatively new

Eleven states offer girls high school flag football. Arizona’s 2023 season was the first to offer the sport sanctioned by the Arizona Interscholastic Association.

The AIA had 57 schools participate last year with more than 100 expected to play in 2024.

“A bunch of years ago, there’s no question that we were supporting flag football but with having a great broadcast partner like Arizona’s Family Sports, the technology today to be able to stream some of these games … the technology helps,” Bidwill said. “But also having a partner that’s super motivated to bring local sports over the air is great.”

In a press release, Arizona’s Family vice president and general manager Debbie Bush echoed that priority, calling local sports a “connective tissue of a community.”

The Cardinals have already had a hand in growing girls flag football by recognizing a game of the week via fan vote and a player of the week over the last two years.

The team recently agreed on a two-year partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance and pledged $70,000 to support the sport in Arizona.

“The AIA is honored to collaborate with the Arizona Cardinals as well as Arizona’s Family and State Farm to recognize and promote girls flag football here in Arizona,” AIA director David Hines said in a press release.

“To have select games of the week broadcast across the state provides a great opportunity to highlight these tremendous female athletes. We can’t thank the Cardinals enough for their support. They have been instrumental in the exponential growth of girls flag football in the state of Arizona.”

KTAR News 92.3’s Colton Krolak contributed to this story.

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