NFL votes to approve player participation in flag football at 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles

The stars of the gridiron are headed to the global stage

The NFL is officially going global. A week after confirming dates for a record seven international games on its 2025 schedule, the league announced it voted to approve potential player participation in the 2028 Summer Olympics. Flag football is scheduled to make its debut at the Los Angeles Games, and now players have the green light to try out for an Olympic team on the world's biggest sports stage.

Tuesday's vote, which occurred at the NFL league meetings in Eagan, Minnesota, permits any player under an NFL contract to try out for a future Olympic team, including a prospective Team USA roster, provided the NFL approves said team's health and safety standards regarding playing surfaces, athletic training and more.

The resolution also mandates that each Olympic flag football roster can include no more than one (1) player from the same NFL team; for example, Team USA could deploy one player each from both the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs, but not multiple Cowboys or Chiefs. Tuesday's vote also included a provision for additional players -- Designated International Players -- to represent their home country, outside of the base restriction.

The 2028 Olympic flag football competition is set to consist of six men's teams and six women's teams, each composed of 10 players per team. Those teams will square off in the 5-on-5 format currently used by NFL FLAG, the league's official flag football program.

Flag football rules for 2028 Olympics

1. 10 players per team (five players on field)
2. Field is 70-by-25 yards
3. 40-minute games: Two 20-minute halves (including 2-minute warning)
4. Four downs to reach midfield and four downs to score touchdown
5. No run plays within 5 yards of end zone
6. Overtime if score is tied with each team getting equal chances to win

Tuesday's approval from NFL owners will likely be followed by additional negotiations between NFL owners and the NFL Players Association, according to ESPN. The decision marks the league's latest and strongest show of support for flag football, which was approved for Los Angeles' Summer Olympics schedule in 2023. NFL executive Troy Vincent previously indicated that flag football is "the future" of the sport.

"When we talk about the future of the game of football, it is, no question, flag," Vincent said in 2022, via the Associated Press. "When I've been asked over the last 24 months, in particular, what does the next 100 years look like when you look at football? Not professional football; it's flag. It's the inclusion and the true motto of 'football for all.' There is a place in flag football for all."

Accordingly, both the NFL and the International Federation of American Football, the sport's governing body on an worldwide level, "share a long-term commitment to strengthening and sustaining flag football's place in the Olympic program," the league said in a statement Tuesday. "The NFL's entire ecosystem -- including all 32 clubs -- will continue to use our collective power to grow and develop flag football as a global game."

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Jonathan Jones