MaxPreps

The PlayOn Sports family of brands is back for Year 2 of the MaxPreps Game of the Week series. And what a way to kick it off. No. 1 St. John Bosco High School vs. No. 2 Bishop Gorman High School under the lights in Las Vegas on Aug. 21. Two of the nation's premier programs. Future college stars all over the field. One of the best opening-week matchups you could ask for. Looking forward to another season of showcasing the biggest games, the best athletes, and the incredible communities that make high school football special. It's go time.

MaxPreps just named the first-ever girls flag football All-America Team. That sentence would not have made sense five years ago. 60 players. Nearly 20 states represented. A National Player of the Year in Ariana Akey, a Nebraska commit who threw for over 200 career touchdowns at Mountain Vista in Colorado. The roster is a snapshot of a sport that has moved from novelty to nationally recognized discipline in a remarkably short window. The institutional markers matter here. All-America recognition is not just an honor. It is infrastructure. It signals that the sport has a defined elite tier, a credible evaluation framework, and enough depth across the country to assemble a meaningful national team. Those are the same building blocks that enabled women's soccer, basketball, and volleyball to develop serious recruiting pipelines and eventually drive professional leagues. The sanctioning numbers tell the growth story clearly. 17 state associations sanctioned girls flag football in 2025-26. Five more are joining next season, including Kansas, Maryland, and North Carolina. Each new sanctioning state adds official competition structure, coaching development, and recruiting visibility that informal programs cannot provide. The Nebraska commitment for Ariana Akey is its own signal. Power conference programs are starting to track and recruit girls flag football athletes. That is a direct pipeline development happening in real time, connecting the high school game to the collegiate level in a way that accelerates the sport's legitimacy and its talent development arc. For brands, investors, and media organizations watching women's sports for early entry points, girls flag football is exactly the kind of emerging category worth understanding now. The participation base is already there. The competitive infrastructure is being built in real time. The first All-America Team just told you the talent is real. The sport is maturing faster than most people are tracking it. #FlagFootball #WomensSports #SportsBusiness #YouthSports #NFL #SportsInvesting #AssetArena

HIRING! A new key role for us at MaxPreps AI Video Producer, Sports Data & Storytelling This role sits at the intersection of video production, sports storytelling, data, studio programming, and emerging AI technology. You’ll focus on turning rankings, records, athlete stories, team achievements, archival assets, editorial ideas, and podcast concepts into compelling video and audio-led content formats. You’ll partner closely with editorial, social, studio, product, data, and video teams to apply AI-assisted workflows that increase production speed, improve creative output, and unlock new storytelling opportunities. https://lnkd.in/ggFWBtiM

More than 600,000 events stream on the NFHS Network each year.  For schools connected to MaxPreps Advantage, those streams don't just go live - they become organized film, stat-linked breakdowns, and coaching tools ready within hours of the final whistle.  For schools that aren't connected? The game ends. And next week starts from scratch.  https://hubs.li/Q04lYlJZ0

Eighteen of the nation's top teams featuring elite talent will compete on a national stage in September. Together with International Flag League - the teams are set for the inaugural MaxPreps Flag Football Showdown.

We're excited to launch the MaxPreps Flag Football Showdown. Together with iFlag, we will host flag football’s first unified, rankings-backed national platform. The first event arrives this September at the Elite Athlete Training Center in Chula Vista, CA, creating the championship stage the sport has been missing as participation and investment surge. 16 of the top high school teams competing on one big stage. All games will be broadcasted live on MaxPreps and powered by the NFHS Network. https://lnkd.in/gr5b2Tf8

Behind every game is a student-athlete putting in the work. The practices. The preparation. The setbacks. The comeback moments. On National Student-Athlete Day, we’re celebrating the dedication, resilience, and impact of high school student-athletes everywhere. They make their teams stronger, their schools prouder, and their communities more connected. Here’s to the students who keep showing up, growing through every challenge, and giving their all! #NationalStudentAthleteDay

A first for MaxPreps and PlayOn Sports.