STEELE SPORTS

NFL wants flag football at 2028 Olympics
Just when you think the sports world couldn’t get any wilder after 2020 and 2021, the world decides that it is time for football to make its long-awaited return to the Olympics – albeit in an interesting way.
According to the NFL and Sports Illustrated, there have been rumblings of flag football being introduced to the 2028 summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
The NFL will push for the sport to be introduced at the 2028 Olympics in an attempt to grow the game even further internationally.
If the sport is brought back to the Olympics, it will be the first time football has been a part of the games since 1932 when it was introduced as a demonstration sport.
From a business standpoint, I understand why this move makes sense.
With the Olympics being held in the United States in 2028, it will have the perfect platform to promote one of America’s biggest sports while also putting itself in a position to almost guarantee it increases its gold medal count by plus one at the games.
However, as a football fan, I’m curious to see how this will play out.
When I close my eyes and picture what flag football may look like at the Olympics my first thoughts are almost comedic.
I’m picturing stars such as Justin Jefferson and D.K. Metcalf running around a field with a flag belt on while legendary coaches such as Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll waltz around the sidelines with fancy headsets and clipboards.
Quite honestly, I’m not sure what message the United States will send to the world by trotting out a super team of some of the sport’s best athletes, but one thing I do know is that it would be highly entertaining.
The entertainment factor will play perfectly into both the NFL and the Olympic Games’ hands as the media exposure would surely bring even more eyes to the games than before.
While the NFL will get to promote itself to the world, the Olympics will also surely benefit from a host of new people tuning in to watch the spectacle.
On top of this, there is the potential that viewers will benefit from something other than just the game itself.
An opportunity that the Olympics cannot miss is to introduce Super Bowl-quality commercials into the game.
Whether it be new commercials or even old re-runs, it would be a blunder for the NFL to not try and show off some of its best content when the players aren’t performing.
While it may be weird to think of initially, I think that the potential for this event to be massive is definitely there.
I will anxiously await the Olympic Committee’s decision on whether the sport will be introduced, and definitely hope to see flag football at the 2028 Olympics.