Flag football to make prime-time Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028

LOS ANGELES – Flag football will take centre stage during the 2028 Los Angeles Games, after organisers confirmed the sport’s medal matches will be held in prime-time slots in its first Olympic appearance.

The International Federation of American Football (Ifaf), in partnership with the National Football League (NFL), announced on July 14 that the men and women’s medal games are scheduled for Friday evening (July 21) and Saturday afternoon at BMO Stadium near downtown Los Angeles.

The announcement comes as senior Ifaf and NFL delegations visit Los Angeles for meetings with Games organisers, marking exactly three years to the day before the LA28 opening ceremony.

“Flag football will definitely be a hot ticket at the Games,” Ifaf president Pierre Trochet told Reuters on July 14.

“We’re going to be at a great stadium right in the heart of the city and we’re going to have fantastic players on the field with NFL players available.”

Flag football is a non-contact variation of American football in which players wear flags attached to their waists. Instead of tackling, defensive players must remove a flag from the ball carrier to end a play. The sport is played on a smaller field with fewer players per side.

The inclusion of flag football in LA28 follows a vote by NFL owners allowing NFL players to participate in the Olympic competition.

Trochet said the prime-time scheduling was a clear statement of a shared ambition to ensure flag football contributes a “defining element” of LA28’s success.

Organisers hope to capture the excitement of Friday Night Lights, a cherished American tradition, and generate iconic moments for the sport’s Olympic launch.

“We could not dream of a better set-up to start our debut in the Olympic movement and Olympic journey,” he said.

The Ifaf delegation, including managing director Andy Fuller and senior NFL executives, is set to tour Exposition Park and other venues over a three-day visit.

The group will also meet with key LA28 organising committee members and attend the launch of a new NFL flag football brand campaign, which features Olympic gymnastics champion Jordan Chiles and flag football players from Australia and the US.

Ifaf is formulating the qualification procedure and officials hope US teams will have automatic entry for their home Games, Trochet said.

He said the federation was in discussions with the International Olympic Committee on the qualifying path for six men’s and six women’s teams.

“We will have the official version of the qualification programme by the end of the year,” he said. “We are already anticipating a scenario where the world’s best might face a first stage of qualification in 2026.

“After that, a mix with the best continental teams in 2027 could yield a second group of qualified teams. We have quite a clear and precise idea of what we will propose.”

Elsewhere, the federation is focusing on the growth of the sport worldwide.

“A few weeks ago, we concluded the first African Championship in Cairo, Egypt,” Trochet said.

“Throughout the summer we will transition to the European Championships in Paris, the Americas Championship in Panama and then the Asia-Oceania Championships in China in October.” REUTERS, AFP