ONSIDE has been appointed by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) to develop the bidding and commercial programmes for its 2026 Flag Football World Championship.
The joint men’s and women’s event in 2026 will be the first Flag Football World Championship to feature qualifying slots for the Olympic Games following confirmation of the sport’s inclusion on the programme for Los Angeles 2028.
IFAF President Pierre Trochet said: “Flag football is growing rapidly around the world as both a participation and spectator sport. This year will see a record-breaking edition of the IFAF Flag Football World Championships in Finland, concluding the biggest ever cycle of IFAF Continental competitions, involving 65 international representative teams.
“This rapid growth trajectory is predicted to continue, with the 2026 World Championships set to be on a different scale to anything we’ve staged in the past.”
“As well as building out the commercial model for this event, ONSIDE are helping us to develop a bidding process for interested hosts and a legal framework for the event.”
Flag football is a five-a-side non-contact discipline of American Football in which women’s and men’s World Championship events have been contested since 2002. The current holders of both titles are the USA while previous winners of the women’s event include Canada, France, Mexico, Panama and Sweden and the men’s competition has been won in the past by Austria, Canada and France.
Jon Long - Managing Director, UK and Middle East
ONSIDE’s Managing Director, UK and Middle East, Jon Long said: “We are delighted to be supporting IFAF at this inflection point for both the organisation and flag football around the world.
“The positive momentum around flag football has been building for some time and its inclusion on the programme of LA 2028 looks set to increase interest in the World Championship and pathway events.”
This appointment enhances a growing portfolio of international clients and projects for the Dublin-headquartered sports and entertainment consultancy that also includes Cricket West Indies, USA Cricket, British Triathlon, England Hockey, Table Tennis England and World Squash.
