flag football

flag football, noncontact version of American football wherein defenders stop offensive players by pulling one of two fabric flags worn around each player’s waist when they are in possession of the ball, rather than tackling the players as is the case in traditional tackle football. Flag football is played between two teams of five players each. The sport has grown tremendously in recent years, especially in the U.S. where the National Football League (NFL) runs the official youth flag football league NFL FLAG. Flag football will debut as an Olympic sport at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Origins

American soldiers started playing flag football on U.S. military bases during World War II as a form of recreation, when it was called “touch and tail football.” The noncontact version minimized risk of injuries to soldiers who had to be battle-ready at all times, and the sport caught on stateside when they returned home after the war. The name was soon shortened to flag football. The first official games are believed to have been played at Fort Meade in Maryland. In the 1960s the National Touch Football League was founded in St. Louis, Missouri. The first intercollege flag football championship was held in 1979 in New Orleans. In 1997, with the formation of the Professional Flag Football League, the sport went professional.

Rules and variants

There is no physical contact allowed in flag football, meaning that blocking as well as tackling are prohibited. The sport typically features five players per side, but different leagues allow teams of larger sizes, though the squad size is usually capped at ten. The field is 70 yards (64 meters) long and 30 yards (27.42 meters) wide, smaller than the tackle football field of 120 yards (109.8 meters) by 53.33 yards (48.8 meters). The offensive team starts out at the 5-yard line.

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In the popular NFL Flag Football, the team has four plays (downs) to move the ball past midfield. After three downs, the team can either punt—in which case the opposing team takes over on its own 5-yard line—or go for it. If the team chooses to go for it and fails to cross midfield, the opposing team takes over at the spot of the last play. Once a team crosses midfield, it has three plays to score a touchdown, which is worth six points. After a touchdown, the team has the option of trying for a single extra point by scoring from the opposing team’s 5-yard line, or two points from the 10-yard line. Matches have two halves of 20 minutes each; in case of a tie at the end of the match, sudden-death overtime is played. Match time in other variants may vary from 15 to 25 minutes per half.

Unlike gridiron football which requires specialized protective gear—helmets, shoulder pads, etc.—flag football needs just a mouth guard and a flag belt with two flags; the latter is worn around the waist.

International tournaments

Globally, flag football has been governed by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF); the first international championship was held in 2002. Austria and Sweden won the men’s and women’s events, respectively. The event has since been held every two years, except in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. has had the most successful men’s team, winning 6 of the 11 championships so far, including 5 consecutive wins from 2014 to 2024; Austria has 3 titles. In the women’s edition, the U.S. and Mexico have been the most successful teams with 3 titles each.

Flag football has featured at the World Games, a quadrennial global multisport event that features sports not included in the Olympics. It debuted at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama. The U.S. won gold in the men’s event, and Mexico did the same in the women’s version. At the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China, Mexico took the gold in the women’s event; the men’s event was not held.

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Following lobbying efforts by the NFL and the IFAF, the International Olympic Committee, in October 2023, approved flag football as a new sport for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Matches will be played at the BMO Stadium (Exposition Park Stadium) in the city.

NFL support for flag football

The NFL has taken several steps to elevate flag football, including turning its own all-star game, the Pro Bowl, into a flag football game in 2023. In the summer of 2024, the league staged its first NFL FLAG Championships at the Hall of Fame Village in Canton, Ohio, for its youth league, featuring 280 regional NFL FLAG-winning teams and six international teams. The games were broadcast on ABC and several of its affiliated ESPN networks, as well as the NFL Network. The NFL is hoping the competition will become the sport’s version of the wildly popular Little League World Series, baseball’s youth showcase competition. NFL leaders see flag football as a way to get more kids to play the sport, especially those with parents who are wary of letting their children play football because of concerns over safety.

According to the league, 20 million people play flag football in 100 countries. In addition to being safer, flag football is also a more affordable version of the sport, because it doesn’t require costly helmets and other protective gear. Steve Smith, Sr., a former Pro Bowl wide receiver, for example, had to give up playing Pop Warner, a youth tackle football league, because it was too expensive. Instead, he played flag football until he returned to tackle football in high school.

When flag football was officially added to the 2028 Summer Olympics roster, the NFL said it would work to help current and former NFL players participate. Several players expressed interest in playing, including quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Joe Burrow, tight end Rob Gronkowski, and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. After the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, a video circulated of NFL quarterback Jalen Hurts lighting a football on fire, and, with a little high-tech trickery, sending it airborne to accompanying dramatic music, where it landed on the torch atop the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, setting off the Olympic flame. Then he nods, a satisfied look on his face, and declared, “It’s our turn.” The clip angered Darrell (“Housh”) Doucette, the quarterback of the U.S. national flag football team, who told The Guardian, “I think it’s disrespectful that they just automatically assume that they’re able to just join the Olympic team because of the person that they are—they didn’t help grow this game to get to the Olympics. Give the guys who helped this game get to where it’s at their respect.”