Los Angeles Olympics organizers propose American flag football, baseball, cricket and lacrosse for inclusion on the 2028 program… and the sports WILL be approved in upcoming IOC vote
First up, Taylor Swift. Next, the Olympics.
The NFL’s ongoing efforts to gain global exposure received a new boost Monday when organizers of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics presented a proposal to put flag football on the schedule when the Summer Games return to the states -United for the first time in 32 years.
The International Olympic Committee will vote on the proposal at meetings in Mumbai, India, beginning later this week.
Los Angeles’ proposal also featured baseball and softball, which have bounced in and out of the program for decades; the Crosse; squash; and cricket – a fitting contrast to flag football in that it is virtually unknown in the United States but extremely popular in large parts of the world.
Los Angeles President Casey Wasserman said the new sports are “relevant, innovative and community-based, played in classrooms, schoolyards, community centers, stadiums and parks across the United States and the world “.
Flag football (shown here at the 2023 Pro Bowl) is considered an Olympic sport
Even though participation numbers are declining, there is no bigger spectator sport in the United States than soccer.
Bringing its less violent cousin to the Olympics would mark a huge victory for the NFL, which has held games in Europe for more than a decade now and is always looking for ways to increase both its participation and viewership.
One of the biggest stories this season was pop megastar Swift’s trips to two Chiefs games to watch her friend, tight end Travis Kelce.
“Things are moving at a breakneck pace in football,” said Bettina Cornwell, a sports business expert at the University of Oregon.
“It’s a very smart idea to introduce a football type game on a larger scale, with more visibility, which will perhaps persuade people that we can do something other than sticking to the violent game such as it is currently practiced.”
Flag football, in which “tackles” are made by removing a flag from a belt worn by each player, would be a 5-on-5 affair played on a 50-yard field.
There are no offensive and defensive linemen. At last year’s World Games, the U.S. men won the gold medal while the women fell to Mexico in the final.
While flag football will seem familiar to local fans, cricket will be a steep learning curve.
Flag football is a more condensed version of the game and has been played on the world stage.
Very popular, among others, in India, Great Britain and Australia, which will host the Brisbane Summer Games in 2032, it is almost unknown in the United States.
A game called Twenty20 – a shorter version of the original game – is proposed for the Los Angeles program. Cricket has already been played once at the Olympic Games, in Paris in 1900.
Breakdancing isn’t on the Los Angeles agenda, but it will be unique after it debuts in Paris next year. Others are not included: motor sports, kickboxing and karate.
It’s unclear whether other sports will have to reduce the number of disciplines to help the IOC meet its limit of 10,500 athletes at the Summer Olympics. The addition of five team sports will increase the number of participants.
How a new version of football will be played in five years, in an already packed 17-day sports schedule, is anyone’s guess. The Olympics, like the NFL, have worked hard to attract younger audiences.
Another new sport proposed for the Olympics is cricket in its shorter T20 format.
In recent years, the IOC has added skateboarding, rock climbing and 3-on-3 basketball to its program. Flag football fits that mold, said Cornwell, the Oregon professor.
“There will be die-hard NFL consumers who won’t accept it,” she said.
“But you have to recognize the fact that the danger of grid play is a talking point. It’s not popular.
“If there is one piece that could change things, it’s this one. Praise them for trying.