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Organizers of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are proposing to add flag football to the program.
The International Olympic Committee will vote on the proposal at this week's meetings in Mumbai, India. The LA proposal will also include baseball and softball, lacrosse, squash, and cricket. While flag football is popular in the United States, cricket is virtually unknown in the country but immensely popular in other parts of the globe.
Adding less violent flag football would be a significant achievement for the NFL, given that football remains the most-watched spectator sport in America despite declining participation rates.
The NFL has been staging games in Europe for over a decade, and adding flag football to the Olympics would allow it to grow its audience beyond Western Europe and the U.S.
Flag football, a 5-on-5 game played on a 50-yard field, would be familiar to Americans, while cricket would be a steep learning curve. The proposal suggests a shorter version of the game called Twenty20 will be played.
Only one cricket match was held at the Olympics in Paris in 1900. However, bringing a sport with no history in America would be seen as a plus in countries with a following, such as Australia, which will host the Olympics in Brisbane in 2032, and possibly India in the future.
While some sports, like breakdancing, have been dropped from the LA program, adding five team sports will increase the number of participants. The move is part of the IOC's effort to attract a younger audience, with the addition of new sports, such as skateboarding, climbing, and 3-on-3 basketball in recent years.
Including flag football could be a winning move for the NFL.