NFL players in the Olympics? Here’s when league could make a decision, plus issues that must be sorted out

There is hope within the football community that a decision on NFL player participation in the 2028 Olympics will come as early as this upcoming spring, multiple sources have informed CBS Sports.

An update on flag football is expected at next week’s league meetings in Irving, Texas, according to sources. But it should be just a small update related to the Pro Bowl Games, which now features flag football in its main event, and the continued questions around NFL player involvement in the Olympics.

The NFL is expected to give a full presentation to team owners on potential player involvement in the Olympics at March’s annual league meetings in Florida. A vote could take place at that point, or it could be tabled until a later meeting.

Flag football will be an Olympic event for the first time ever when Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Summer Games. And there’s a strong desire within the league to make the sport a permanent fixture in the Olympics for years to come, continuing with the 2032 Olympics in Australia.

But there are major issues that need to be determined before the top stars of the NFL can don the flags in pursuit of a gold medal. The issues, of course, start with money, but they don’t end there.

“It is pretty complicated,” one source aptly put it.

The first issue is a simple one: the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with the players union does not cover international competition. This can be resolved with a simple amendment to the CBA, which was ratified in 2020 and goes through the 2030 season.

In the NBA CBA, there’s a carve-out for competition in the Olympics and the “preparatory exhibition games in connection to” the Olympics. The NHL CBA from 2020 explicitly reads that the league and union “commit to participate in the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics” subject to any other negotiations that may be necessary.

NFL player contracts are notoriously stringent when it…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-players-in-the-olympics-heres-when-league-could-make-a-decision-plus-issues-that-must-be-sorted-out/

Author : Jonathan Jones

Publish date : 2024-12-06 12:01:00

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