The American 7s Football League (A7FL) is a

sports league A sports league is a group of individual athletes, sports teams or clubs who form a league to compete against each other and gain points in a specific sport. At its simplest, it may be a local group of amateur athletes who form teams among them ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

which plays a seven-man version of

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

called American 7s Football. Launched in 2015, its games are played without

football helmet A football helmet is a type of protective headgear used mainly in gridiron football, although a structural variation has occasional use in Australian rules football. It consists of a hard plastic shell with thick padding on the inside, a Face ma ...

s or other protective equipment. The A7FL is the only organized level of competition in American 7s football. League players are not paid during the season and most of them are primarily amateurs. Instead cash prizes are awarded to division and national champs (divided among the roster of roughly 25 players). For the 2022 season the prize pool was $50,000.

History

Founded in 2014 with play commencing the following year, the A7FL plays a seven-game schedule running from March to May, with playoffs running from June to July. It can trace it history to a

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

league called Town Beef that started in 2008 and played 7-on-7 full-contact football with no helmets or pads. The league primarily attracts semi-professional football players seeking opportunities to stay in shape during spring. In 2016, the league participated in a safety study led by the

New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a Public university, public research university in Newark, New Jersey, United States, with a graduate-degree-granting satellite campus in Jersey City. Founded in 1881 with the support of local indust ...

. In 2023, the league had its first former NFL starter sign with a team, that being cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who signed with the Tampa Nightcrawlers.

Differences from other leagues

A7FL players play without pads or

helmets A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the Human head, head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a Custodian helmet, policeman's helmet in the Unite ...

as part of what the league describes as an effort to reduce the potential of

head injuries A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inju ...

resulting from helmet-to-helmet contact. League games also do not include kickoffs,

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

s, or punts, and, instead of the kickoff, implement a unique version of

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

called a 3-on-1 throw off (three 'throwing' players and one receiver). Games are played on narrow fields of 37 yards' width (34 m, between one set of

hash marks In sports, a hash mark or hash line is a short line/ bar marking that is painted perpendicular to the sidelines or side barricades, used to help referees and players recognize on-field locations and visually measure distances. Hash marks serve t ...

and the furthest sideline away) to accommodate fewer players on the field on each team. A7FL games are played between two seven-man teams; teams are, additionally, required to cap their rosters at 35 active players.

Teams

Teams that will participate in the 2025 season.

Championship results

Media coverage

Eleven Sports Network acquired the exclusive United States and international rights to broadcast the A7FL 2017 Championship on July 9, 2017, played at Palisades Credit Union Park. Through Eleven Sports Network's distribution with

DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...

, Verizon FiOS, and AT&T uVerse the A7FL 2017 Championship was to be accessible by over 70 million homes worldwide. In 2018, Eleven Sports Network acquired the exclusive United States and international rights to broadcast a 21-game package including the playoffs and championship, and in 2019, the non-exclusive U.S. and international rights to the playoffs and championship. In 2019,

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

acquired the exclusive United States and international rights to a 21-game package of the season including the playoffs and championship. In 2020, A7FL again partnered with Eleven Sports Network for the exclusive United States and international rights of the season, including the playoffs and championship. For 2021,

FITE TV Triller TV (stylized as TrillerTV, formerly known as FITE and FITE TV, and currently marketed as TrillerTV powered by FITE) is a Bulgarian-based American digital video streaming service. Owned by Flipps Media, Inc. and operated by its parent co ...

acquired the United States and international rights to the A7FL's season including the playoffs and championship. Starting in 2022, select Games of the Week -- including the playoffs and championship - were broadcast on

Stadium (sports network) Stadium is an American internet television sports network owned by Silver Chalice. It is headquartered at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. History In March 2017, unconfirmed reports speculated that Sinclair was planning to shutter i ...

, YouTube,

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, and A7FL.tv. In 2025, select A7FL Games of the Week including the playoffs and championship and A7FL InMotion, a weekly 30 minute show featuring a look inside the A7FL -- are broadcast on Fox Soul,

, Triller TV, YouTube, and A7FL.tv.

Organization

The CEO of the A7FL is Sener Korkusuz and its president is Ryan DePaul. In 2019,

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

co-founder David Isaacs joined the A7FL to serve as chairman of the advisory board. Isaacs said, "Removing equipment to make any sport safer seems counterintuitive and we faced similar issues when we launched the UFC and created the sport of

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

. With the A7FL, football can be safer but still thrilling full-contact competition. I can't wait to get started." Athletes playing in the A7FL are required to sign a player injury waiver and be 18 years of age or older.

References

{{Professional American football leagues American football leagues in the United States Sports leagues established in 2015 2015 establishments in the United States