More than a game: NFL hopes Melbourne visit will boost Olympic flag football

The NFL’s regular season debut in Australia will bring significant commercial benefits to the league and its clubs, but this week’s takeover of Melbourne is about more than just money.

Friday’s match schedule at the MCG is also intended to secure a place for flag football – a non-contact version of American football – at the Brisbane Olympics.

The IOC is finalizing the core disciplines for the 2032 Games this year before local organizers can offer additional sports. The process is expected to be completed by the end of the year or early 2027.

Flag football will make its debut at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and NFL chiefs used this week’s visit to push the case for the sport’s inclusion in Brisbane.

“Flag football is a huge part of our efforts,” Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive vice president of global events, said Tuesday at the SportNXT conference. “[It’s] one of the fastest growing sports in the world, [we’re] very glad that he will be in the Los Angeles 28 sports program [and] I really hope it happens at Brisbane 32.”

O’Reilly confirmed that the possibility of flag football being included in Brisbane 2032 was a key reason why Melbourne secured the match. “There was a competitive process and ultimately it became clear that Victoria and Melbourne were the choices for these reasons,” he said.

“It’s not just about this individual game, the game is the catalyst, it’s the drop of a pebble, but then it really spills over into all these other areas and ties together.”

NFL chief marketing officer Tim Ellis said the league is “still working hard” to bring flag football to Brisbane. “This is very important to us.”

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan coached the team at the Tom Brady-backed flag football exhibition in March. On Wednesday he said he wants the sport to appear at the Brisbane Games in 2032, even if adding “real football” would be too difficult because it “takes time to recover.”

“I’m used to watching all my kids grow up and how common it is in high schools and even colleges now,” Shanahan said.

The coach, who admitted he was tired and still adjusting to the time difference in Melbourne, noted the difference between flag football and the NFL.

“It’s definitely different. I mean, I do it, Tom [Brady]The flagship football deal that we did over the course of three days, you can see it’s a completely different sport but there are some similarities.

“The more football they can get, however, they can get to the Olympics, I’m definitely in favor of that.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has pledged to provide football uniforms to every school in Australia in April. The first kits arrived in Queensland late last month, prompting a press release from the state’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Minister Tim Mander, who called it a “wonderful initiative” and said it was “great that our children will now be becoming more and more exposed to flag football before it makes its Olympic debut.”

Melbourne won the bid to host Friday’s match, which is expected to draw a crowd close to the MCG’s capacity of 100,000, with many fans paying hundreds of dollars for the privilege. The Victorian government reportedly paid more than $10 million for hosting.

The Australian Open’s newest venue, Kia Arena, has been transformed into a flagship football stadium for the three-day NFL Fan Fest starting on Thursday. Australia and New Zealand players will take part in the showcase on Friday afternoon.

Flag football has featured prominently in promotional events this week, and Collingwood and the Seattle Seahawks will host an NFL/AFL crossover football seminar on Wednesday afternoon.

Australia finished 12th at the men’s and women’s World Flag Football Championships in Germany last month. Only six men’s and six women’s teams will qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics.