Best NFL Games for Android: Licensed, Free and Offline

For the league itself, get Madden NFL 27 Mobile Football. It is free, and its listing says it needs an internet connection. For a flight or a patchy signal, get Retro Bowl, which names no NFL licence and carries Google Play’s “Offline” tag.

We read the Google Play listing of every game on this page, and the descriptions come from those listings. The licence column records what each listing says about itself. Search the store for NFL and you will also find titles that use the letters while claiming no licence at all. We left those out.

NFL and football games at a glance

The $4.99 is the US price. Google Play sets a local price in other countries.

Games with a real licence

Madden NFL 27 Mobile Football

EA’s listing promises NFL teams, players and stadiums, with in-game events that follow the real season from the Draft to the Super Bowl. The listing does not print a licence line. EA’s own page for Madden NFL 27 does: it calls the game an officially licensed product of the National Football League and of the NFL players’ organisations.

You build a roster from player cards, call plays from NFL playbooks, and can play other people in real time in a mode EA calls Madden VS.

The costs are in the small print. Google Play shows ads and in-app purchases, and the listing says the in-game currency can buy random selections of items. It also says an internet connection is required, so do not count on it on a plane.

One trap: Madden NFL 27 Companion, also from EA, is not a game. Its listing says it requires Madden NFL 27 on a PlayStation 5, an Xbox Series X|S or a PC. EA also lists EA College Football Mobile 27, a team-building game with college programmes in place of NFL teams, and that one requires a connection too.

Football Head Coach 27 NFL PA

Gamebasics puts you on the sideline. You draft and train players, choose from a library of formations and call the plays, and a simulation plays them out.

The listing says its athletes are officially licensed by the NFL Players Association, and it names current players. It makes no claim about NFL teams, so read that as real players only.

It is free with ads and in-app purchases. Player packs hold random items and are bought with a currency called Gold Bars, which the listing says can also be earned by playing. The listing warns of a reset before each new season to bring the rosters up to date.

NFL Collect by Topps

NFL Collect by Topps is not a football game in the usual sense, but it has the clearest licence statement of the lot. Topps calls it the officially licensed digital collectibles app of the NFL and the NFLPA. You open packs of digital trading cards, trade them with other collectors and set line-ups of cards that score in real time. It is free with ads and in-app purchases.

Football games with no NFL licence

Retro Bowl

New Star Games’ listing is a few lines long and none of them mentions the NFL. It describes a retro-style game in which you manage a roster, handle the press and your players’ egos, and call the shots on the field.

Google Play shows an in-app purchases label on it and no ads label, and tags it “Offline” and “Single player”. Retro Bowl College, from the same developer with the same labels, swaps the pro teams for 250 college ones and gives you a tighter budget.

Ultimate Pro Football GM

Games2rk calls this a free offline football sim. You are the general manager: you sign, draft and trade players, hire coaches, upgrade the facilities and set the ticket prices. A coach mode adds offensive play calling. The online part is a PvP league. Google Play shows in-app purchases and no ads label.

Franchise Football: Pro GM

Our old list had this as CBS Franchise Football. The CBS name has gone from the title, and the developer shown on Google Play is Fantasy Moguls, Inc.

You manage a team through 16-game seasons and fill the roster from packs that the listing says hold the biggest names in pro football history. It states no licence. It is free with ads and in-app purchases, and the listing notes that the app includes Nielsen’s audience-measurement software.

Backyard Football ’99

A children’s football game from 1999, re-released by Playground Productions to run on modern devices. It costs $4.99 in the US, and Google Play shows neither ads nor in-app purchases on it.

You draft from 30 Backyard kids and a group of past stars the listing names, among them Barry Sanders, Jerry Rice and Dan Marino, then play a single game or a 14-game season. The listing is frank about its limits: the team had no access to the original source code, so there was only so much it could change.

Still on Google Play from our old list

Five more of our 2019 picks are still listed. None states an NFL licence, and all five are free with ads and in-app purchases.

• Big Win Football: Manager: now from Fresh Build Games. You collect and upgrade players, then watch quick games play out.
• Ted Ginn: Kick Return Football: you return kicks, following blocks and breaking tackles. The listing calls it the official game of Ted Ginn Jr., which is one player’s name and not a league licence. Tagged “Offline”.
• Football Dash: an endless runner. You drag a finger to get past defenders and score touchdowns. Tagged “Offline”.
• Fanatical Football: football on the field with tap and swipe controls, a quick game mode and a championship mode. Tagged “Offline”.
• Touchdown Manager: club management, with training, a live bidding system for new players and matches against other people.

Fantasy football apps

Our old list counted two fantasy apps as games. They work differently: you pick real players and score on what those players do each week.

• ESPN Fantasy Sports: the listing says every ESPN game is free to play. You create or join a league, draft a team, set a line-up and trade. Google Play rates it Everyone, and shows ads and in-app purchases.

What happened to the rest of the old list

• Madden Overdrive Football: we found no listing under that name. EA’s mobile game is now Madden NFL 27 Mobile Football.
• NFL Rush Gameday: we could not find it on Google Play. The NFL’s own developer page there lists the NFL app and a handful of event and fan apps, with no games among them.

Which one to pick

• Real NFL teams: Madden NFL 27 Mobile Football, if you are always online.
• Real players, and you would rather coach: Football Head Coach 27 NFL PA.
• No connection: Retro Bowl.
• Management without a connection: Ultimate Pro Football GM.
• For a child, with nothing to buy inside: Backyard Football ’99.

We have checked offline car racing games and offline RPG games for Android in the same way.

Quick answers

Is there an official NFL game for Android?

Madden NFL 27 Mobile Football, from EA. It is free on Google Play with ads and in-app purchases, and its listing says it requires an internet connection.

Which NFL games for Android work offline?

None of the licensed ones says it does, and Madden says it does not. Retro Bowl and Retro Bowl College carry Google Play’s “Offline” tag, and Ultimate Pro Football GM describes itself as an offline game.

Is Madden free on Android?

Yes, to download and to play. Google Play shows ads and in-app purchases on it, and EA’s listing says the in-game currency can buy random selections of items.

What is the best NFL manager game for Android?

Football Head Coach 27 NFL PA if you want real players. Ultimate Pro Football GM if you want to play without a connection.

Is Retro Bowl an NFL game?

It is American football, but its Google Play listing names no NFL or NFLPA licence.