Under Armour x Diana Flores

Notte’s Notes:

• Is it your game? Under Armour landed flag football’s biggest name by committing to the sport and teaming with Diana Flores and her SMAC Entertainment partners on events and stories they valued. If you want to associate your brand with a growing sport, committing to it helps.
• Spread the field. A season-opening campaign is admittedly powerful, but sponsoring camps and documentaries about the sport you’re endorsing matches the NFL’s level of commitment while reaching a sport’s audiences beyond one spot’s viewership.
• Scout talent early. The time to learn about Diana Flores isn’t after she’s been introduced to more than 100 million Super Bowl viewers, but when she’s absolutely dismantling the U.S. team in the World Games months earlier. The NFL and 72andSunny knew that, SMAC Entertainment knew it, and any brand that figures it out early with the next star of an emerging sport will look as smart as they do after introducing the world to a game-changing talent.

Diana Flores helped the NFL bring flag football to the masses, but she and her team at SMAC and Under Armour still have a few yards to cover before reaching her sport's ultimate goal line at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Flores signed with SMAC Entertainment—founded by football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan and business partner Constance Schwartz-Morini—in 2023 just before the Super Bowl. In a Big Game ad produced by the NFL with creative partners 72andSunny, the league handed the ball to Flores and let the Mexican flag football quarterback evade a host of NFL players and supporting celebrities before she sprinted down the street with fellow players Vanita Krouch and Bella Rasmussen.

That summer, Under Armour signed Flores as the brand's first-ever flag football ambassador. She immediately threw the brand's support behind the "Red Pandas" flag football team from the Ciudad del Refugio Orphanage in Puerto Nuevo, Baja California. Just months later, the International Olympic Committee announced that both men's and women's flag football would debut at the LA28 Summer Olympics.

“As we move toward the 2028 Olympics, I’m inspired by how far the sport has come and how many people have helped elevate it,” Flores told SPORT BEACH. “This moment belongs to all of us – the athletes, the coaches, the partners, the young players picking up a football for the first time. I’m proud to represent them on the global stage.”

Diana Flores on the field

But a quarterback leads by nature. This year, Flores opened the NFL season by stealing the show from Justin Jefferson, Cam Ward, Gunna, and Rakai in Under Armour's cameo-laden "We Are Football" campaign. Under Armour's content division, Lab96 Studios, produced the campaign and now teams with SMAC to produce a documentary on women's flag football leading into the 2028 Olympics.

Flores also hosted—as she has since 2024—a UA Next flag football camp for girls and women ages 13-19 at the Santa Fe campus of Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico City. Under Armour brought in its own coaches and NFL personnel to teach athletes the fundamentals, provide drills and in-game training, and test Under Armour products designed for the sport. With Flores on the sidelines, this year's camp drew more than 130 players.

Flores hosting UA Next flag football camp

“From the beginning, Under Armour’s mission was Diana’s mission—grow the game of flag football and inspire more girls to participate,” said Tyler Rutstein, SVP of Global Brands and Americas Marketing at Under Armour. “When I went to Mexico City to see Diana’s UA Next camp firsthand, I saw the confidence, motivation, and inspiration she brings to so many young girls.”

Under Armour put Flores at the center of its Lab96 Studios launch in October and views her as essential to its shift from traditional marketing toward "entertainment-driven content designed to engage athletes and fans of the brand." Its long-form "We Are Football" campaign and upcoming flag football docuseries form part of a narrative content strategy heading into 2028 that also includes partnering with Overtime on a high school football series featuring IMG Academy and St. Frances Academy and with Boardroom on a baseball series.

Those big, high-impact plays for flag football keep Under Armour an essential part of Flores and SMAC's brand huddle. Jose Diaz, EVP of Strategic Partnerships & Communications at SMAC Entertainment, noted that SMAC and Flores partnered with brands including Under Armour, Gatorade, Invisalign, Toyota, and Oakley not just for endorsements, but for their "platforms to reinforce her message and introduce flag football to new audiences around the world."

Flores already carries clout and credibility as a member of the Mexican Olympic Committee's athletes committee, chair of the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) athlete committee, and NFL Global Ambassador. SMAC and brand partners like Under Armour just help her push flag football forward.

“The combination of her personal advocacy and our brand partnerships has made flag football part of the global sports conversation, not just a niche category,” Diaz said. “And the impact has been clear: more demand from media, more investment from leagues and partners, and a dramatic rise in participation globally.”

Raising the flag

In the United States alone, flag football has broken tackle's hold on the sport and sprinted to expanding popularity.

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, high school tackle football grew by 28,412 players—or 2.8%—from 2019 to 2025. Flag football, meanwhile, added 57,518 players during that same span for 473% growth.

With considerable help from the NFL FLAG program that helps the league's teams and sponsors support school and recreational flag football leagues, 17 states now sanction flag football as a varsity high school sport, with 21 other states launching pilot programs. Since the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics first sponsored varsity flag football at the collegiate level, 65 colleges nationwide now sponsor the sport at the varsity or club level.

The NFL, meanwhile, has made flag football a pillar of league marketing efforts. Teaming up on more flag football campaigns, the NFL and 72andSunny brought in Flores' "We Are Football" teammate Makena Cook of Team USA and the Los Angeles Rams girls flag football team for its 2024 season-kickoff campaign. They also recruited Liberty High School and U.S. Girls' Junior National Team flag football player Ki'Lolo Westerlund for the league's 2025 Super Bowl spot. “The NFL Super Bowl commercials and LA28 were huge leaps forward but the impact of the commitment of a global sportswear brand like Under Armour to continue to elevate athletes like Diana, Makenna, and Ki’Lolo cannot be understated.” said Glenn Cole, Founder and Chairman of 72andSunny. “It normalizes the sport year-round for players, their families, and grass-roots communities while complementing continued commitment from the NFL.” The league will not only send players to flag football at the 2028 Summer Olympics, but Commissioner Roger Goodell said it will launch professional men’s and women’s flag football leagues in the near future.

Throughout all of that growth, Flores has been an essential part of the NFL’s flag football game plan. From the league’s Super Bowl ad through Under Armour’s opening day spot, Flores has served as the league’s Global Flag Football Ambassador and was instrumental in bringing the sport to the Olympics.

“Having Diana front and center for moments like these ensures the message not only reaches the broadest possible audience, but also expands what the public believes is possible for women and young athletes everywhere,” Diaz said.

She’s been hard at work both in front of and behind the camera. Flores joined Krouch as a coach during the NFL’s Pro Bowl. The league told her story during its Super Bowl push. This year, Flores went to London as part of the NFL International Series and played for Under Armour co-star Gunna’s team in a celebrity flag football game aired on YouTube.

With flag football's Olympic debut little more than two years away, Flores' work with Under Armour and brand building with SMAC have kept her in the spotlight while continuing the conversation around her sport.

“Flag football is becoming a global language, and I’m honored to help translate it,” she said.

Armour for all

As Flores' brand playing field expanded from North America to the globe, so did her team's ambitions.

SMAC's Diaz noted that her Under Armour partnership began strictly as a Latin American campaign but went global as both Flores and flag football gained momentum internationally. As they look for more ways to increase visibility for both Flores and flag football ahead of the Olympics, SMAC now partners with Under Armour's Lab 96 on a documentary about women's flag football.

“It’s important for Under Armour as a global brand to do everything it can to make Diana a global star,” said Under Armour’s Rutstein. “She is an incredible partner, and I know [it] will be so fun to see her [on] the road to LA 2028.”

Three years into the Under Armour partnership, even more players are joining Flores’ squad from the sidelines. At this year’s camp, SMAC and Under Armour supported Flores and UA Next coach Jason Tudryn with Mission Viejo High School coach Garrett Gray, University of Connecticut assistants Mickey Grace and Kenny McClendon, Super Bowl champs Thomas “Pepper” Johnson and Torrey Smith, and NFL global flag football ambassador Phoebe Schecter.

SMAC’s Diaz sees the Under Armour partnership as a catalyst to continue flag football’s momentum. By building not only a brand, but camps that go beyond clinics to build a pipeline of talent for flag football, Under Armour and Flores make an impact on the field that shows up in the numbers.

“The biggest joy for me has been seeing the sport grow at the grassroots level and watching young girls fall in love with the game,” Flores said. “Our camps in Mexico doubled in size this year, and every one of those girls reminds me why representation matters.”