Seattle Seahawks Announced as Presenting Sponsor for Gay Bowl XXIII

As part of an ongoing and growing relationship between the National Gay Flag Football League (NGFFL) and the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Seahawks have signed on as the presenting sponsor for the Gay Bowl XXIII set to take place October 5-8 in Seattle, Washington.

The Seahawks have sponsored the local Seattle branch of the NGFFL league, the Cascade Football Association since 2019. Then the Seahawks helped provide funding and resources to the LGBTQ+ flag football league to help it grow and prosper. This effort ultimately led to the 2023 Gay Bowl bid being awarded to Seattle.

“The Seahawks organization is committed to spreading a love for the game of football and providing equal opportunities for people of all backgrounds to play, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or race,” said Karen Wilkins-Mickey, Seattle Seahawks Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. “We are proud to support the Gay Bowl XXIII – Seattle in its mission to make sports, especially football, more inclusive for all.”

Local NFL teams have sponsored previous Gay Bowls and NGFFL local leagues, beginning with the New England Patriots, New York Giants, New York Jets, Denver Broncos and the Arizona Cardinals. The growth of early efforts led to 20172018 when the Arizona Cardinals partnered with the Compete Sports Diversity Counsel to find ways for their team to better connect with the local LGBTQ+ community, especially the sports community, to learn how they could improve their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts.

This ultimately led the Cardinals to build a working relationship with the Phoenix Gay Flag Football League and then-president, Jesus Godinez who had already been building bridges between the PGFFL and some other local professional sports teams.

Seeing the success of the initial partnership and the mutually beneficial support from both sides, this inspired more teams to get involved. And with the help of Jesus, NGFFL and Compete, a “snowball effect” occurred that has ultimately led to everything from NFL teams sponsoring local leagues, participating in LGBTQ+ pride parades, sponsoring Gay Bowl and inviting local LGBTQ+ leaders and members of the Compete Sports Diversity Council to offer DEI training for team staff and athletes. And board members of the NGFFL were even invited to make a live announcement of a Cardinal player selection in the NFL 2022 draft.

Compete is excited to see this relationship continue to grow and prosper. Compete also will be hosting another Sports Diversity Summit in Seattle with the Seahawks in 2023. We will be sharing more details about it shortly — we hope to see you there! •