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American Football is the most popular sport in the United States. Sunday afternoons and Monday and Thursday evenings are often reserved for football fans, and college football is played on Fridays and Saturdays. But is it also considered one Olympic sport?
Despite the excitement about the sport, it has not yet made its way to the Olympics. There are rumors that flag football, the non-contact variant of American football, may be part of one of the next Games.
But why is American football not considered an Olympic Sport, and is it something that could change in the future? Let's take a look at that.
What we discuss in this comprehensive post:
- 1 What requirements must a sport meet in order to be accepted as an Olympic Sport?
- 2 American football has already participated in two Olympic Games
- 3 Why is American Football not an Olympic sport?
- 4 Addressing security concerns
- 5 Flag football: a sport in itself
- 6 Drew Brees believes flag football tackle can save football
- 7 Flag football is the key to Olympic integration
- 8 Conclusion
What requirements must a sport meet in order to be accepted as an Olympic Sport?
Not every sport can just participate in the Olympics. The sport must meet a number of criteria to be eligible for the Olympic program.
Historically, in order to participate in the Olympics, a sport must have an international federation and have hosted a world championship.
This must have taken place at least 6 years before a scheduled Olympic Games.
The International Federation of American Football (IFAF), which primarily focuses on tackle football (the 'regular' American football) but also includes flag football in its tournaments, met this standard and was approved in 2012.
The sport therefore received preliminary recognition in 2014. This would pave the way for American football as an official sport, and flag football possibly as part of this sport.
However, the IFAF has since faced setbacks due to alleged scandal, event mismanagement and misappropriation of funds that bode well for the sport's uptake in the near term.
Fortunately, in 2007, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) passed a new, more flexible rule that will give sports a new chance after each Olympic Games from 2020 to run for the most prestigious sporting event in the world.
But how do we overcome the obstacles that the structure of the sport presents to meet the demands of a successful Olympic sporting event?
American football has already participated in two Olympic Games
Let's go back in time a bit first.
Because in fact, American football has already participated in the Olympic Games in the years 1904 and 1932. In those years, the sporting event was held in the USA.
However, in both cases the sport was played as a demonstration sport, and therefore not as an official part of the Games.
In 1904, 13 football games were played between September 28 and November 29 in St. Louis, Missouri.
In 1932, the game (between East and West All-Star teams, which consisted of graduate players) was played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Although this game did not include American football as an Olympic sport, it was a crucial stepping stone to a College All-Star Game to be played between 1934 and 1976.
Why is American Football not an Olympic sport?
Reasons why American football is not (yet) an Olympic sport are the size of the teams, gender equality, the schedule, the costs of equipment, the relatively low popularity of the sport worldwide and the lack of international representation by the IFAF. .
The Olympic Rules
One of the reasons American Football is not an Olympic sport has to do with the eligibility rules.
If American Football became an Olympic sport, professional players would be eligible for international representation by the IFAF.
However, NFL players are not eligible for representation by the IFAF. A lot of people don't even know that the IFAF exists or what they do.
That's because the IFAF has no real vision or direction for what they want to do for the growth of American Football.
The NFL has not been very supportive of the IFAF in the past, according to Growth of a Game, which has hurt their chances of getting the support they need to bring American football to the Olympics.
The IFAF has submitted an application in the past to include American Football in the 2020 Summer Olympics, but it was sadly rejected.
A chance for flag football
They did receive preliminary recognition for the 2024 Olympics, and the NFL is now working with the IFAF on a proposal to bring flag football to the Olympics in 2028.
Flag football is a variant of American football where, instead of tackling players, the defending team must remove a flag from the ball carrier's waist, and no contact between players is allowed.
The team size
According to an article on NFL.com, the biggest logistical challenges the sport faces in getting into the Olympics are, very similar to that of rugby.
This is, first of all, about the size of the teams† The truth is, the size of an American football team just isn't practical.
In addition, if football is to qualify as an Olympic sport in any way, the NFL and the IFAF must work together to develop a compressed tournament game, much like rugby.
gender equality
In addition, the “gender equality” format is an issue, where both men and women must participate in every sport.
The equipment is not cheap
Furthermore, it is expensive for a sport such as football to have all players to equip with the necessary protection.
I have several posts about the parts of an American Football outfit, from the obligatory numbers like a good helmet en a decent girdle, to the optional items such as arm protection en back plates.
Global popularity
Another factor is the fact that American football is still less popular in countries outside America.
In principle, only 80 countries have official recognition for the sport.
Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the fact that the sport is slowly gaining popularity internationally, even among women!
All these circumstances together make it difficult for football to be part of the Olympics.
Rubgy well
Rugby is in many ways similar to football in that it takes very little time to practice the sport when it comes to equipment and in addition, compared to football, this sport is much more popular worldwide.
This, along with other reasons, has allowed rugby as a sport to be admitted to the Olympics from 2016, with the traditional style of play changing to a 7v7 format.
The game is faster and requires fewer players.
Addressing security concerns
More and more attention is being paid to the safety of football, and not just in the NFL where concussions are a major concern.
Addressing the issues surrounding safety will also give the sport a better chance of being accepted into the Olympics.
Even in youth football, evidence has been found that regardless of the occurrence of a concussion or not, the repeated blows and impacts to the head can later lead to similar brain damage in children aged 8-13 years.
Many researchers suggest that children should not play football at all, because children's heads are a larger part of their bodies, and their necks are not yet as strong as adults'.
Children are therefore at greater risk of head and brain injuries than adults.
Flag football: a sport in itself
For those unfamiliar with flag football, this isn't just a recreational activity that ties into traditional tackle football.
Flag football is a full-fledged movement with its own identity and purpose, and it's time we recognized that distinction.
Flag football is extremely popular in Mexico, with most people considering it the second most popular sport after football.
It is estimated that 2,5 million children participate in this sport in primary school alone.
The sport is also becoming popular in Panama, Indonesia, the Bahamas and Canada.
Increasingly large flag football tournaments are popping up around the world, where thousands of teams of different age groups compete against each other for cash prizes that have never been higher.
Sponsors are also starting to notice this trend: EA Sports, Nerf, Hotels.com, Red Bull and other major brands are seeing the value and growth of flag football as a way to reach their audiences effectively and in large numbers.
Also, the participation of women has never been higher, reflecting its popularity at the youth level.
Drew Brees believes flag football tackle can save football
Since 2015, studies have shown that flag football is the fastest growing youth sport in the US.
It even surpasses the growth of traditional American (tackle) football.
Many high schools are switching to flag football and organizing organized competitions to encourage other schools in the area to do the same.
It is even an officially recognized college sport in many US states today.
Especially for girls and women, flag football is the perfect sport to still play football but without the physical nature of the traditional game.
In an interview for NBC's pregame show, ex NFL quarterback Drew Brees was interviewed in which he reports:
“I feel like flag football can save football.”
Brees coaches his son's flag football team and has played flag football himself through high school. Tackle football didn't come to him until after high school.
According to Brees, flag football is a great introduction to football for many kids.
If children come into contact with traditional tackle football (too) early, it can happen that they have a bad experience and then don't want to play the sport anymore.
According to him, not enough coaches are sufficiently aware of the true fundamentals of football, especially when it comes to youth-level tackle football.
Many other pro athletes and coaches share the same view and are full of praise for flag football, and the sport's rising popularity reflects that.
Flag football is the key to Olympic integration
Here are the top 4 reasons why flag football should qualify as the next Olympic sport.
- It's less physically demanding than tackle football
- International interest in flag football is growing explosively
- It requires fewer participants
- It's not just a men's sport
A safer alternative
Flag football is a somewhat safer alternative than tackle football. Fewer collisions and other physical contact means fewer injuries.
Imagine playing 6-7 tackle football games with a limited squad, all within a span of ~16 days. That is simply not possible.
It is not uncommon for flag football to play 6-7 games over a weekend or sometimes even in one day, so the sport is more than suited to this style of tournament play.
International interest
International interest is a key factor in determining a sport's eligibility for the Games, and while traditional American tackle football is gaining popularity worldwide, flag football is appealing to more countries.
It's a lower barrier to entry in terms of cost and equipment, doesn't require full-length football fields to participate, and it's easier to host larger tournaments and competitions to generate local interest.
Fewer participants needed
Depending on the format used (5v5 or 7v7), flag football requires far fewer participants than traditional tackle football.
This is partly because it is a less physically demanding sport and requires fewer substitutions, and partly because it requires less specialized players (such as kickers, punters, special teams, etc).
While a traditional tackle football team would likely have more than 50 participants, flag football would require 15 players at most, reducing that number to less than a third.
This is important because the Olympics limit their total number of participants to 10.500 athletes and coaches.
It also gives more countries the opportunity to join, especially poorer countries where a smaller and less financially demanding team together with the above reasons makes more sense.
More gender equality
Gender equality is a key focus for the IOC.
The 2012 Summer Olympics marked the first time that all sports in their category included women.
Today, any new sport added to the Olympics must include both male and female participants.
Unfortunately, there isn't enough interest from female participants for tackle football yet to make sense.
While there are more and more female tackle football leagues and organizations, it just doesn't fit the bill (yet), especially along with the other issues related to the physical nature of the game.
This is not a problem for flag football, with a strong international participation of women.
Conclusion
Now you know it's not that easy to qualify as a sport for the Olympics!
But the hope for Football is not lost yet, especially flag football has a chance to participate.
In the meantime, I myself will stay with American Football for a while. Also read my post in which I explain how to properly handle throwing the ball and also train it.
