How Olympic Flag Football Could Finally Ignite the NFL’s Global Breakthrough

I remember that scene vividly—Jerry Jones lounging in some California hotel room nearly eight years ago, wrestling with a thought he just couldn’t quite grasp. It was the idea of Olympic flag football, a concept so tantalizingly close yet just out of reach . . . a seed planted in the mind of one of the NFL’s most visionary owners. Back in 2017, during a deep dive with Yahoo Sports, Jones was already thinking far beyond the usual borders. The NFL was plotting global domination—scheduling games across the UK, Europe, Canada, Mexico, dreaming of a future where an entire season might play out beyond U.S. soil. Yet, there was a knot he couldn’t untie: how to make football truly resonate in places where it was, well, little more than a curiosity. China, in particular, hovered as this immense but puzzling challenge. The NBA and Premier League had floral spread their roots there, drawing millions into the fold—while the NFL remained on the outside looking in. “It’s daunting,” Jones said then, acknowledging the complexity. But his gut told him the answer wasn’t just blitzing with NFL games; maybe it was about planting something more organic—giving people reasons, simple reasons, to pick up a football and just play. And now, with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics looming, flag football might just be the golden trigger. The NFL’s steeping itself in a proposal that could unleash players onto the Olympic stage, offering an unprecedented avenue to grow the game worldwide. Owners and executives alike are buzzing with cautious optimism—not without concerns, sure. Injuries, logistics, culture clashes — they’re all on the table. Yet, this feels like the most promising, authentic experience the NFL could offer to hook new fans globally, beyond borders and barriers. Just imagine the ripple effect when NFL stars step onto that field—and the world decides to join in. Now, all eyes are locked on this week’s spring meetings in Minneapolis, where this bold idea could inch closer to reality. It’s not just about expanding a league; it’s about expanding a culture. LEARN MOREAdvertisementAdvertisementAdded an AFC team president: “It’s a smart way — and I honestly believe a carefully thought-out way — to finally be part of that global stage every four years. I get the injury [concern], but every other major professional sport in America has been part of the Olympics for 30 years or more now. The NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball have all been able to shoulder that risk. Now [the NFL] can be a part of it with moderately less risk than what happens on an NFL field.”

Added an AFC team president: “It’s a smart way — and I honestly believe a carefully thought-out way — to finally be part of that global stage every four years. I get the injury [concern], but every other major professional sport in America has been part of the Olympics for 30 years or more now. The NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball have all been able to shoulder that risk. Now [the NFL] can be a part of it with moderately less risk than what happens on an NFL field.”

Added an AFC team president: “It’s a smart way — and I honestly believe a carefully thought-out way — to finally be part of that global stage every four years. I get the injury [concern], but every other major professional sport in America has been part of the Olympics for 30 years or more now. The NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball have all been able to shoulder that risk. Now [the NFL] can be a part of it with moderately less risk than what happens on an NFL field.”

Added an AFC team president: “It’s a smart way — and I honestly believe a carefully thought-out way — to finally be part of that global stage every four years. I get the injury [concern], but every other major professional sport in America has been part of the Olympics for 30 years or more now. The NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball have all been able to shoulder that risk. Now [the NFL] can be a part of it with moderately less risk than what happens on an NFL field.”

Added an AFC team president: “It’s a smart way — and I honestly believe a carefully thought-out way — to finally be part of that global stage every four years. I get the injury [concern], but every other major professional sport in America has been part of the Olympics for 30 years or more now. The NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball have all been able to shoulder that risk. Now [the NFL] can be a part of it with moderately less risk than what happens on an NFL field.”

Added an AFC team president: “It’s a smart way — and I honestly believe a carefully thought-out way — to finally be part of that global stage every four years. I get the injury [concern], but every other major professional sport in America has been part of the Olympics for 30 years or more now. The NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball have all been able to shoulder that risk. Now [the NFL] can be a part of it with moderately less risk than what happens on an NFL field.”

“It might be giving people a reason to pick up a football for the first time and just go outside to play with it,” he said. “Which really isn’t simple at all.”Flag football teams would need to meet a standard of medical care and playing surface mandates to be eligible for NFL players. It would also need to augment all parts of its schedule so that the player’s NFL schedule would take precedent over everything else.
Every hand … possibly every country … revisited and grown in between every four years of a worldwide Olympic audience. Allowing NFL players to be a part of that may not be the NFL’s solution to finally breaking down doors to a truly global fan base, but it might be the best one yet. And that’s why it’s front and center on the agenda of NFL owners this week.