Explained: What Is Flag Football & Why It Will Make Primetime Olympic Debut At LA28

Last Updated:July 15, 2025, 08:56 IST

Flag football will debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, featuring primetime medal games.

Elisa De Santis, captain of the French Flag Football Team, and a player perform during a presentation of this sport, that will be a new discipline at the LA Olympics (Picture credit: AFP)

Flag football is all set to take center stage during the 2018 Los Angeles Olympics, after organisers confirmed on Monday that the sport’s medal games will be held in primetime slots in its first-ever Olympic appearance.  LA 2028 will feature the debut of flag football and squash as optional sports, joined by the return of baseball, cricket and lacrosse.

The International Federation of American Football, in partnership with the National Football League, has announced that the men’s and women’s medal matches are scheduled for Friday evening, July 21 and Saturday afternoon, July 22, at the BMO Stadium near downtown Los Angeles.

The LA 2028 Olympics are scheduled to begin on July 14 and will come to a close on Sunday, July 30.

What is Flag Football?

It is a variant of American or Canadian football where, instead of tackling the players to the ground, the defensive side must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier to end a down.

In flag football, contact is limited between the players. The sport has a strong amateur following with multiple national and international tournaments every year sponsored by various associations, but is most played in the USA, where it was invented in the 1940s.

The best available records to date point to the 1940s during World War II as flag football’s beginning point. 

The sport started as a recreational one created for American military personnel to help them stay fit, but was designed in a way that would help prevent them from becoming injured during wartime.

The first known recorded history of the sport can be traced to Fort Meade, a census-designated place in Anne Arundel County in Maryland, which is now accepted as flag football’s birthplace.

The first national organisation for the sport, the National Touch Football League, was formed in the 1960s in St. Louis, a major city in Missouri along the Mississippi River. 

How has flag football gained primetime access in the LA2028 roster?

The announcement comes as senior IFAF and NFL delegations visit Los Angeles for the first official meetings with the Games organisers, marking three years to the day before the LA28 Opening Ceremony.

The inclusion of flag football in LA28 follows a vote by NFL owners permitting NFL players to take part in the Olympic competition, which ensures that a large amount of fan following will focus on the sport.

IFAF President Pierre Trochet said that the primetime scheduling was a clear statement of a shared ambition to ensure the sport contributes a “defining element" of LA28’s success.

The IFAF delegation will 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 athletes from Australia and the USA.

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