KELLY TO BUILD SPORTING FOUNDATIONS FOR NFL FLAG LEAGUE
TMRW Sports has handed Champ Kelly responsibility for constructing the football operation behind its forthcoming professional flag league, adding nearly two decades of NFL personnel experience to a project moving quickly from concept to competition.
The former Las Vegas Raiders and Miami Dolphins interim general manager becomes TMRW’s senior vice-president of flag football operations and will report to Brendan Donohue, who was appointed president of the company’s flag business earlier this month.
Where Donohue’s background lies in building and expanding sports properties, Kelly will concentrate on the competition itself. According to TMRW Sports, his remit encompasses player personnel, coaching, officiating and team administration across the women’s and men’s leagues being developed in partnership with the NFL. The appointment also begins to define the executive structure underpinning a project which has spent much of the year assembling its investment, international and commercial foundations. Kelly will be based alongside Donohue at TMRW’s headquarters in Orlando where, among the key decisions they will be required to make are how players enter the league, how its teams are staffed and the competitive framework under which they will operate.
“Champ is the ideal person to lead our flag football operations,” Donohue said. “His nearly two decades of experience in NFL player personnel, including serving as general manager for two NFL franchises, will provide invaluable expertise as we build a world-class organisation. His passion for this role has been fuelled, in part, as the father of three daughters and the opportunity to help create a league that opens new pathways for men and women.”
Kelly has spent 19 seasons in NFL front offices, beginning with the Denver Broncos in 2007. He progressed from regional college scout to assistant director of pro personnel during eight years with the franchise, contributing to an organisation that made four successive playoff appearances, reached Super Bowl XLVIII and assembled much of the roster that subsequently won Super Bowl 50. Seven seasons with the Chicago Bears followed, initially as director of pro scouting and then assistant director of player personnel. Kelly joined the Raiders as assistant general manager in 2022 and was elevated to interim GM following the dismissal of Dave Ziegler during the 2023 season.
He remained in Las Vegas under Ziegler’s permanent successor, Tom Telesco, before the parties separated in February 2025. Miami appointed Kelly as a senior personnel executive the following month, and he became interim general manager when Chris Grier left midway through the season, assisting incoming Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan through the 2026 draft before leaving the organisation in April. His subsequent move takes him away from the established structures of an NFL franchise and into a competition where those structures have yet to be created.
“Flag football is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, and launching its professional tier on the eve of its Olympic debut is an exciting moment in the sport’s evolution,” Kelly said. “My roots are in the NFL, and I’m genuinely blessed that the league is partnering with TMRW Sports on this innovative new league.
“As a former football player, I understand what it means to compete with the support of a world-class organisation behind you, and nearly 20 years in NFL front offices have given me the leadership, relationships and experience to help build that environment for elite flag football athletes from around the globe.”
Kelly’s experience is not confined to conventional NFL scouting. He played receiver and defensive back at the University of Kentucky before joining the Lexington Horsemen of United Indoor Football, earning first-team all-league honours on two occasions. He subsequently combined duties as the Horsemen’s general manager and receivers coach with work as an NFLPA-certified contract adviser. That background offers TMRW an executive familiar with the practical demands of running a smaller football organisation as well as the personnel systems used at the sport’s richest level.
Kelly joins a leadership group taking shape around Donohue, whose previous career included nearly three decades across the NBA and the launch of the NBA 2K League. TMRW appointed him on July 21st to lead the broader professional flag football business, including its commercial development and relationship with the NFL. The company has since selected Populous to design a modular, purpose-built stadium intended to serve as the new league’s initial home. Transwestern’s Sports and Entertainment Group is assessing potential host cities, with site visits already underway and the venue expected to accommodate several thousand spectators in a broadcast-focused setting.
TMRW has not yet announced a location, precise launch date, number of teams, player-acquisition process or media partner, but has committed to beginning competition before flag football makes its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028, with the professional league intended to complete a pathway already extending through youth, high school, collegiate and international play. The operation is backed by all 32 NFL ownership groups through the league’s investment vehicle, 32 Equity, alongside institutional investors and prominent figures from across sport. TMRW and the NFL announced their partnership in March, after NFL clubs authorised an investment of up to $32m to support the league’s development.
A subsequent agreement with the International Federation of American Football is intended to coordinate talent identification, athlete development and competition calendars between the professional and international games. The relationship will begin to take practical shape around August’s IFAF World Championship in Düsseldorf, the first qualifying event for the 2028 Olympics.
Ashlea Klam, the USA national team receiver and reigning IFAF women’s flag football player of the year, was named TMRW’s first professional flag football ambassador in June.