How Much Did USA Flag Football Players Earn After Routing NFL at Fanatics Classic?

Yes, Team USA got bragging rights. But did they also get a payday?

The results of this Saturday's tournament prove that Team USA still has the edge when it comes to flag. | Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images for OBB Media - FANATICS STUDIOS

If the Fanatics Flag Football Classic taught us anything, it's that NFL players shouldn't quit their day jobs.

The USA Flag Football team positively demolished the opposing NFL and celebrity-led squads in a high-profile tournament over the weekend, reasserting itself as the dominant group in the sport ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games.

Indeed, the U.S. team won every game it played on Saturday, and by a large margin at that. For starters, Team USA took down the Wildcats, a group featuring the likes of Joe Burrow and Saquon Barkley, 39–14, before demolishing the Tom Brady-led Founders 43–16. They then won again in the championship, 24-14.

But aside from bragging rights over some of the world's most famous and decorated athletes, did the U.S. team get anything else in the way of prizes? Yes, in fact.

USA Flag players earn big payday with Fanatics victory

To supplement what had to feel like an incredibly sweet victory, each player on Team USA Flag Football earned a $100,000 prize, as reported by Front Office Sports. Talk about a nice little windfall.

Flag football at the Olympics

Now that we've established that the U.S. squad is far and away the better team, the question now becomes: will there be any NFL stars on the roster at LA2028?

There is certainly interest in playing in the Games.

"The opportunity to win a gold medal, that’s something that I've thought about, a moment like that, for a long time, since I was a kid. I think it would be something very special," Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said this weekend.

"Just to think about the chances of playing in the Olympics and getting a gold medal is a dream, just reverting back to being a kid and watching the track and field meets, watching basketball win the gold medal," Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson mused in May 2025. "That's something that as a kid I always wanted to be a part of, but football wasn't global. So now that we're expanding the game and we're going more global, it's pretty cool."

Logistically, however, it could prove an issue. The flag competition at LA28 is scheduled for July 15-22, which bumps up against NFL training camp. Injuries are a risk. Contracts could be impacted. There is a lot an NFL star would have to consider, in addition to internalizing the key differences between his game and this one, and that's without even taking into account that he'd have to make the team first.

"The flag guys deserve their opportunity. That's all we want," U.S. QB Darrell 'Housh' Doucette said back in May 2025, shortly after the NFL announced that its players were approved to participate. "We felt like we worked hard to get the sport to where it's at, and then when the NFL guys spoke about it, it was like we were getting kicked to the side. I felt like I was the guy who could speak out for my peers, for my brothers that's been working hard to get to this level, for us not to be forgotten."

At the time, his concerns felt quite valid—don't pass over the guys currently doing this for the guys that could do this. But after Saturday's win? Doucette's spot on the Olympic roster looks an awful lot like his to lose.

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