By Nicole Fernandes
Aug 20 (Reuters) - More than 200 NFL players are interested in competing in flag football at the 2028 Olympics, a league executive said on Thursday, as the non-contact sport gears up for its Games debut in Los Angeles.
In May 2025, NFL teams voted in favour of a resolution allowing their players to compete in flag football at the 2028 Olympics.
“We have begun canvassing NFL players’ interest in representing their countries in the Olympics and to date more than 200 players representing 25-plus
countries have said they are interested in representing their country for the Olympic Games,” Brian Flinn, the league’s Senior Vice President of Global Flag Football, said on a media call.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said earlier this year that he had always wanted to play at the Olympics and win a gold medal, while Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he will leave flag football to the “younger guys”.
In March, the U.S. flag football team crushed two squads stacked with NFL players at the inaugural Flag Football Classic, showing that flag football and tackle football require different skill sets.
More information on the potential involvement of NFL players at the Olympics will come at the end of the 2026-27 season, Flinn said, noting that the process will be run by national flag football federations.
Flag football has been on the rise in the U.S. since it was announced as an Olympic sport in 2023 and Flinn said the recent world championships held in Germany were a "wonderful indicator" of the momentum the non-contact sport is gaining.
"When I started (at the NFL), we had a dream: How do we get football into the Olympics?" Hans Schroeder, the NFL's Executive Vice President of Media Distribution, said on the call.
"And so, one of the really exciting things to me is seeing the continued growth of flag, and now that we are in the Olympics in '28."
The LA Games will feature six men's and six women's flag football teams.
(Reporting by Nicole Fernandes in Toronto; Editing by Ken Ferris)
