NFL wants to clear a path to Olympics for players

FILE PHOTO: The NFL logo is pictured at an event in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., November 30, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

NEW YORK– The Super Bowl may be the National Football League’s ultimate prize but the NFL said on Tuesday it wants to see their players on the Olympic stage going for gold after flag football was added to the program for the Los Angeles 2028 Games.

Flag football was among five sports added to the program for the 2028 Games, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave their approval on Monday. Cricket, lacrosse, squash and baseball-softball were also added.

The sport’s national governing bodies would have the final say over who makes the cut to compete for their country.

But NFL Executive Vice President Peter O’Reilly said the league would work with the NFL Players Association and all 32 clubs to clear a pathway for the stars of the gridiron to have a chance to compete in the Games.

“The Olympic Games – it’s the pinnacle of global sport,” he told reporters at the NFL owners meeting in New York.

“There’s a desire to work through with those stakeholders to get to that outcome for July, in a window that is – at least in the first week – prior to veteran reporting date” for 2028.

The sentiment is a departure from Major League Baseball, which opted not to release players to compete in the 2020 Games citing the disruption to their season. Baseball-softball were left off the 2024 Olympic program.

With 113 foreign-born players on NFL rosters as of Week 5, the league has a chance to be well-represented when the competition kicks off.

Some NFL players have already expressed interest in competing for the U.S. team.

That could spell heartbreak for existing flag football players, who have competed for years in relative anonymity.

“What LA28 put forth to the IOC was not predicated on NFL players,” said O’Reilly.

“I would never discount the talented flag football players playing that discipline.”

‘ENTRY POINT’

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) makes a catch against Denver Broncos’ Pat Surtain II (2) during the first half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

The Olympic stage could be a boon to the NFL, which is working to expand its global footprint.

The league included five international games in its 2022 and 2023 schedules and assigned marketing rights for 26 international regions to individual teams two years ago, in an effort to drive fan growth and engagement abroad.

The NFL has flag football programs in 13 countries and plans to grow that around the world, in an effort to get to as many of the 74 countries in which the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) has existing federations.

“Flag football is… this accessible entry point into our game,” said O’Reilly.