NFL approves player participation in flag football competition at 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles

NFL owners passed a resolution Tuesday to allow its players to compete in flag football at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

At least 24 of 32 team owners needed to vote yes on the resolution for it to be approved at the spring league meetings at the Omni Viking Lakes Hotel in Eagan.

“I think this news represents a great opportunity for the sport, for the NFL, and it’s the next step in making NFL and NFL football a global sport for men and women of all ages,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday. “For our players, I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for them to represent their country and compete for a gold medal, which is the pinnacle of global sports.”

Said Troy Vincent, NFL executive vice president of football operations: “America’s game is now on the world stage.”

The league’s approval, though, is just step one in getting its stars on the field in Los Angeles in 2028. Talks will occur between the league and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), Olympics officials and national governing bodies over the specifics of allowing NFL players to participate.

The NFLPA has previously stated its full support for player participation in the Olympics.

The 2028 Summer Games are scheduled to begin July 14 and end July 30, almost two weeks earlier than the 2024 Paris Games started.

Peter O’Reilly, NFL vice president of club business and league events, said making sure the Olympic schedule fit with the league schedule “was an important part of our conversation.”

He said the International Federation of American Football and USA Football have supported aligning scheduling in both 2027 and 2028 leading up to and during the Games, with dead periods on the NFL calendar.

The resolution stipulates that flag football games and events would not “unreasonably conflict” with league and club commitments. The flag football competition at the Olympics could be held earlier during the event to help accommodate this.

It also limits participation to one player per country per club, and requires injury protection and salary cap credit should any player authorized for participation in the Games suffer an injury that impacts their NFL commitments.

Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson and linebacker Brian Asamoah II appeared at a news conference announcing the passing of the resolution Tuesday.

“Just to think about the chances of playing in the Olympics and getting a gold medal is a dream,” Jefferson said. “That’s something that, as a kid, I wanted to be a part of, but football wasn’t [global]. So now that we’re expanding the game and we’re going more [global], it’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool.”

Asamoah is leading efforts within the sport in Ghana, the West African country where his parents were born. He hosted a scouting camp there to help find the best flag football talent this offseason and said he knows how big this opportunity is for both kids in the U.S. and across the globe.

“I remember when I was 10 years old, I was sent to Africa, and I was telling the kids over there that I played football,” he said Tuesday. “They were like, ‘What’s that?’ ... Just being able to go back home now and say, ‘You have the opportunity to represent your country playing flag football’ ... it’s a wonderful privilege.”

Asamoah took teammates Aaron Jones and Jordan Addison with him to Ghana.

Jones, speaking at the start of the Vikings’ offseason program April 21, said he was struck by the athletic talent he saw there: “The first thing I said after seeing some of those kids move and run, I was like, ‘They need to be playing real football, not flag football.’ ”

“Every other sport gets an opportunity to win a gold medal,” Jones said. “And if you’re not serving your country in the military, I feel like that’s the other highest honor that you can represent your country.”

Jefferson didn’t give a definitive answer on whether he plans to compete in 2028, noting that it’s three seasons away and will depend on how his body is feeling.

“But just like I said, that’s definitely always been a dream,” Jefferson said. “I would say just having that, ‘I’m the best in the world,’ you can actually finally say that. ... I’m definitely looking forward to it if it came down to it. That’s definitely something I’ll have to ask myself and see what’s right.”

Olympic flag football will feature both men’s and women’s competition, with six nations represented in each. Participating countries have not yet been announced, though as the host country, the U.S. is guaranteed a spot.

Teams will roster 10 players for a 5-on-5 format competition.

“We’re fortunate to have a talent pool that already features prominent flag football stars who have helped USA Football establish a gold-medal standard in international competition,” said Scott Hallenbeck, chief executive and executive director of USA Football, in a news release. “Including players from the NFL only strengthens our ability to build the best U.S. Men’s National Team possible and achieve our ultimate goal for LA28: to bring home two gold medals in flag football.”

Hallenbeck added that USA Football will work with the NFL to create “specific opportunities that NFL players can use to showcase their skills and become eligible for selection to Team USA.”