How will flag football work at the 2028 Olympics? What you need to know

USA Today

20-05-2025

How will flag football work at the 2028 Olympics? What you need to know
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Five NFL games we can't wait to watch in the 2025 season
The NFL schedule for the 2025-2026 season has been released. Here are a few games on our must-watch list.
NFL players could make their Olympics debuts as soon as the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games. But what will football at the Olympics look like?
On Tuesday, multiple reports indicated that NFL owners would vote to approve the participation of their teams' players in the next Summer Olympic Games. The move opens the door for a football version of the famous "Dream Team" – the 1992 United States men's basketball team that featured 11 NBA stars – in Los Angeles in 2028.
However, the event will come with some tweaks. For one, NFL fans shouldn't expect the standard tackle format that NFL fans are used to. Instead, the 2028 Olympics – the first Summer Games the United States will host since 1996 – will feature flag football as one of its new events.
NFL AT THE 2028 OLYMPICS: Which players we'd like to see suit up for Team USA
Olympics flag football will come with its own set of tweaked American football rules: a shorter field, fewer players and no linemen, to name a few.
Here's everything you need to know about flag football at the Olympics:
Is flag football an Olympic sport?
In fall 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved flag football as one of five additional sports to be added to the list of events in the 2028 Olympics.
Per Olympics requirements, there will be two flag football events at the Los Angeles Games: a men's bracket and a women's bracket.
Will NFL players play flag football in the 2028 Olympics?
Probably.
Multiple reports Tuesday indicated that NFL owners would vote to allow their teams' players to participate in the 2028 Summer Games. However, the more granular details still need to be negotiated between the league, the NFL Players' Association and the Olympics.
Big questions that need to be answered include how teams can be insured for injury protection, how teams will deal with potential overlap with the Olympics and start of training camp, and which teams will allow their stars to participate.
Multiple teams' personnel, including Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst have already expressed trepidation on allowing their teams' players to participate, citing injury concerns.
The method behind Team USA's roster construction is also something that will need clarity in the coming years.
In an exclusive interview with USA TODAY in late 2023, USA Football CEO and Executive Director Scott Hallenbeck pointed out that there are already dozens of active players across both the men's and women's American flag football teams. Both teams won the IFAF Americas Continental Championship that year.
Including players from those already-existing teams will need to be part of the consideration when building rosters for 2028. That's especially true after ESPN's report earlier on Tuesday that there was an expectation that the Team USA roster would be limited to 10 NFL players.
'We value the concept of the existing adult amateur players that have demonstrated true elite status and performance in (flag football)," Hallenbeck said in 2023. "So we're going to be very open-minded about anyone and everyone meeting the criteria that we set. We're going for the gold, and we will do what's necessary to put the best team together."
USA FOOTBALL: 'We will do what's necessary': CEO Scott Hallenbeck wants to dominate flag football in Olympics
Flag football Olympics rules
According to the International Federation of American Football, the "Standard Style" of international flag football play is five-on-five, which is the format that will be implemented in the 2028 Olympics. Rather than tackling offensive players to complete a play, defenders pull a standardized flag – roughly 15 inches long by two inches wide – off of a belt worn by each player.
There are no offensive or defensive linemen on either team, and games take place on a field that is 50 yards long and 25 yards wide. Rosters will have a 12-player maximum and all teams only have players of the same gender.
Each team gets four downs to attempt to cross midfield for a new set of downs. An unsuccessful set of downs gives the ball back to the defense on its own 5-yard line. An interception gives the defense the ball at the spot the play ends following the interception.
Teams are allowed to run the ball anywhere on the field besides the five-yard areas directly bordering the end zone. Jumping and diving as the ball-carrier in any context is illegal.
Each team's defense can have a maximum of two blitzers that may rush the quarterback directly so long as all parts of their bodies are more than seven yards from the line of scrimmage before the snap.
Scoring is essentially the same as standard American football, though no kicks are allowed. A touchdown is six points. The offense can then elect for a one-point try from the 5-yard line or a two-point try from the 10-yard line. A safety is two points and a defensive touchdown on a point-after try is also two points.
Flag football games are 40 minutes long, split into 20-minute halves with a two-minute halftime break. The clock runs until the final two minutes of each half. During that period, college football rules for clock stoppage apply in that the clock stops after a first down, penalty, incomplete pass, runner goes out of bounds, a score or a charged timeout.
If the score is tied after regulation, a modified version of college football overtime rules apply. Each team gets a series of downs to try to score starting at midfield. If the defense scores during the first series, the game is over. If neither team scores or the game is still tied after each team's first series of downs, each team gets one play for a one-point try from the 5-yard line. This continues until one team leads after both teams have their attempt.