SoCal Women's Pro Flag Football League launching in June 2026

A new professional women's flag football league is slated to launch in June 2026, bringing franchises to eight of the region's largest counties. 

Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties will all be home to the new teams with the SoCal Women's Pro Flag Football League. 

"The league is the brainchild of sports entrepreneur and longtime sports promoter Roy Englebrecht, whose career spans decades of creating, promoting, and growing successful sports properties," said the league website. "Englebrecht's vision for the SCWPFFL is to provide a professional platform for elite female flag football athletes or elite female athletes in general, from across Southern California, showcasing their speed, skill, and strategy, while helping to shape the future of one of the fastest-growing sports in the world."

Teams, which will be selected in a league-wide draft in March, will play in a 14-game regular season running from June to August, with playoffs starting as soon as the regular season ends. Each game will have 15-minute quarters. 

League officials expect that the games will be staged at the top high school or junior college football stadiums in each county. 

"Women's flag football has reached a tipping point. The talent level is extraordinary, the interest is real, and the timing is right," Englebrecht said in a statement. "Southern California has always been a leader in sports innovation, and this league is about creating opportunity and visibility, with players finally having a true professional home to continue their careers in flag football."

The league is still looking for a commissioner, which Englebrecht said he hopes to hire in January. He also said that anyone with "some fair amount of capital" is invited to join as part of league ownership or become a team owner. 

Team names, venues, tryouts, ownership and corporate partnerships are expected to be announced in February.