Black and white turf paint spelling “Pro Bowl” for Tuesday’s NFL game was still visible a day later as young women players hit the same Pro Bowl field for a glow-in-the-dark flag football game.
Toyota, the NFL’s official automotive partner, hosted the black-lit Glow-Up Classic game on Wednesday and teamed up with the NFL and San Francisco 49ers Foundation to install new lights at the Santa Clara Unified School District’s Buchser Middle School Townsend Field.
“This is about taking what Toyota has been doing all year and bringing it to a moment we hope the country can see as a true breakout,” said Shaun Clair, partner and cofounder of Gray Wolf Agency, noting that around 1,200 U.S. Toyota dealers are donating to local flag football teams.
Gray Wolf Agency worked with Toyota to create the activation.
Fitting the theme of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, which was Wednesday, the fan section featured strong girl power messaging. Among the signs were glowsticks, T-shirts proclaiming “the future of football is female,” and paper signs declaring “Kylie Kelce is the real MVP.”
As if called by fans’ signs, Kylie Kelce — wife of retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce and podcast host of Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce — commenced the game by handing a Toyota grant check of $80,000 to participating youth. Kelce and former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning refereed the game.
Instead of the previous night’s Pro Bowl battle between Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Toyota’s game hosted 12-player pink and green teams. Five NFL players, including 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love, served as coaches.
“Toyota wants to create a spectacle that signals to a larger movement — which, for them, is females and flag,” Clair said. “Girls are going to be playing this game more than ever before, and it’s the No. 1 participation sport right now for girls. Each of these girls today is going to come away with a lasting moment.”
The rise of flag football is a contracted phenomenon: The NFL and YouTube expanded their flag football partnership in May for two creator flag football games a year — one at the Super Bowl and one during international games — for the next three seasons. The sport will also debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics in LA.
In 2024, Toyota became the presenting partner of NFL Flag tournaments in the U.S., intending to support over 1,800 leagues and aid 700,000 youth athletes with the help of RCX Sports.
“Bringing together Toyota’s biggest NFL stars on a day that’s supposed to attract attention around a larger movement — National Girls and Women in Sports Day — is what this event is about,” Clair explained.
Source: Campaign US
