Flag football will be admitted to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles along with four other sports – and the NFL is particularly pleased.

The plenary session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has approved the programme proposals of the organisers of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles and cleared the way for the Olympic cricket comeback in Mumbai. The sport, which is particularly popular in India, will return after 128 years, and baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash will also be included in the programme. This was decided by the IOC members on Monday.

With the inclusion of four new team sports, the Summer Games in LA will break the previous limit of 10,500 athletes. No sport is likely to have to give way; both modern pentathlon, with the discipline of steeplechase instead of show jumping, and weightlifting, following a reform of anti-doping, already received the blessing of the Executive Board around IOC President Thomas Bach on Friday. The decision on boxing is still pending.

According to a report by the industry portal “insidethegames”, the IOC’s TV revenue in India from cricket will increase from 20 to 150 million dollars. India is seen as the market of the future, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing an Olympic bid for 2036.

India will “leave no stone unturned” in its efforts to organise the 2036 Games, the 73-year-old assured on Saturday. The IOC session was held in the world’s most populous country for the first time in 40 years.

Cricket was Olympic for the only time so far in Paris in 1900, then with only one match between France and Great Britain. Squash had last made four unsuccessful bids and is making its Olympic debut in Los Angeles, as is flag football, the disembodied version of American football.

Lacrosse was part of the Olympic programme in 1904 and 1908, baseball/softball most recently in Tokyo in 2021. “We want LA 2028 to be a springboard for the five sports,” said Casey Wasserman, head of the organising committee for the Summer Games after next.

NFL supports flag football at Olympics

In NFL circles, the inclusion of flag football in the Olympic Games catalogue has been met with widespread approval and support:

“I congratulate the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) on this milestone for flag football and the global community that loves and plays our game,” stressed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“It is a great honour for any athlete to represent their country at the Olympic Games. We have no doubt that this decision will inspire millions of young people around the world to play the game in the years to come,” the 64-year-old continued.

“The NFL is committed to working together to strengthen flag football’s place in the Olympic Movement for the long term, and we look forward to continuing this exciting journey with IFAF, the LA28 Organising Committee, the International Olympic Committee and USA Football,” Goodell continued.

The growing importance of the sport in the USA was previously demonstrated by Rob Gronkowski. The four-time Super Bowl winner and long-time tight end for the New England Patriots announced his intention to start for the US flag football team in 2028.

Flag football still on the rise

Flag football is at the forefront of an extraordinary worldwide growth in participation in American football, especially among women and girls, according to “NFL”. Currently, an estimated 20 million people in more than 100 countries play the sport, according to the report.

Scott Hallenbeck, CEO of USA Football and IFAF Vice President, said, “Today is a momentous day for American football. We are incredibly grateful to the IOC and the LA28 Organising Committee for recognising flag football as a sport worthy of inclusion in the Olympic Games. We share our excitement and celebrate this historic event with the millions of flag football players in our country.”

He added: “The decision to include flag football in the 2028 Summer Olympic programme in Los Angeles is a recognition of the tremendous international growth and appeal of this fast-paced, exciting and competitive sport.”

This year, according to the report, 65 national teams will take part in an IFAF continental flag football competition in preparation for the IFAF Flag Football World Championship in August 2024 in Lahti, Finland.