Toyota dealerships get fired up about flag football

Nearly 500 Toyota dealerships are helping to support local flag football leagues as part of the automaker's new sponsorship deal with the NFL.

The inclusion of flag football — a fast-growing noncontact sport that's being added to the Olympic Games in 2028 — in the automaker's NFL sponsorship has given dealers a unique way to connect with their communities, said Dedra DeLilli, Toyota North America's vice president of marketing communication. About 40 percent of the company's U.S. retailers have gotten involved with NFL Flag in some way during the first year of the deal, she said.

"Everything from hosting league kickoff parties in their stores to providing co-branded tents or flags on the field of play, they have donated school kits and jerseys, and branded shorts, and even a few of our dealers have even been working with local operators to stand up new leagues," DeLilli told Sports Business Journal.

NFL Flag said more than 700,000 kids ages 4 to 17 participate in its 1,800 leagues around the country. Toyota's logo appears on all jerseys at regional and national championships, on field signage and on the belts that players wear during league play. (Defensive players have to dislodge one of the two flags that hang from each belt instead of tackling the ball carrier.)

Toyota signed on as the NFL's exclusive automotive sponsor in October 2023. Its deal covers both cars and trucks, whereas previous sponsorships by Ford Motor Co. and Hyundai involved only one or the other.

Flag football helps Toyota achieve its goal of using its NFL sponsorship at the community level to highlight aspects of football — such as road trips, tailgates and dropping off kids at practice — that fans and families can relate to, DeLilli said.