Miami Dolphins bring free flag football clinics to Botafogo, Brazil

Miami Dolphins Academy brought free flag football clinics to Botafogo, at Rua General Severiano in Rio de Janeiro, as part of a broader push to plant the sport in Brazil before flag football’s 2028 Olympic debut. The sessions were built for kids ages 8-15, but the real target was bigger than a single clinic: players, coaches and the next wave of fans.

The Dolphins have already treated Brazil and Spain as priority markets. Their official news page says the team hosted Junior Dolphins flag football clinics for youth and coaches in both countries, and the Dolphins Academy website includes a camps section that frames the program as a formal youth-development track rather than a one-off appearance. That matters in a sport where growth depends on repeat touches, not a single photo-op.

The timing lines up with the Dolphins’ international calendar. On Jan. 17, 2025, the team announced it would play the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game in Spain, at Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid during the 2025 International Games. On May 14, 2025, the Dolphins said their 2025 schedule included a Week 11 trip to Madrid to face the Washington Commanders. The Botafogo clinic fits the same strategy: build interest in the sport where the NFL wants a long-term foothold, then keep showing up.

Brazil already has at least one visible flag football success story inside the Dolphins’ orbit. On Feb. 24, 2025, the team named Lucas Rossetti its 2024 International Fan of the Year. Rossetti is from Brazil and began playing flag football in São Paulo at 16, a useful reminder that the country is not starting from zero. The sport is already producing engaged fans and participants, and the Dolphins are trying to widen that base.

For the NFL, the logic is straightforward. Flag football is heading for the Olympics, and international growth now means more than selling jerseys or staging exhibition days. In Botafogo, the Dolphins were working at the ground level, where the next generation of Brazilian players and supporters actually gets built.