Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The National Football League intends to launch professional men's and women's flag football leagues ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics that are scheduled for Los Angeles.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the league's intent while attending a sports conference in London on Thursday, the Chicago Tribune reported.
"We're committed to creating a women's professional league and a men's professional flag league," Goodell said at the Leaders in Sport gathering at London's Twickenham Stadium.
"We've had a great deal of interest in that," he added. "I expect that we'll be able to do that in the next couple of years."
He said demand for flag football is strong among the general public in the United States and overseas.
The sport is played recreationally and in organized leagues in more than 100 countries, according to the NFL.
It's affordable, can be played outdoors or inside a gymnasium and is accessible to people of nearly all ages.
"When we talk about the future of the game of football, it is, no question, flag," said Troy Vincent, executive vice president of NFL Football Operations.
"It's the inclusion and the true motto of 'football for all,'" Vincent added. "There is a place in flag football for all."
The 2028 Summer Olympics are scheduled to include flag football competitions for the first time.
International Federation of American Football Flag Football Championships crowned Great Britain and Italy as its respective women's and men's continental champions in 2025.
The NFL added flag football to its slate of The Pro Bowl Games and eliminated its traditional tackle game in 2023 to reduce potential injuries.
The Pro Bowl format change also helps to promote flag football, which has been offered to youth at schools across the nation for decades.
The sport was first played by U.S. military personnel during World War II, according to the Olympics.
The NFL indicates the current version has either 15- or 25-minute halves with the clock stopping only for injury timeouts and the halftime break. Each team also gets one 60-second timeout per half.
Each team has five players on the field, and the game requires the offensive team to start at its 5-yard line and cross midfield within four plays for a first down.
There are no kickoffs or field goal attempts in flag football.
The offensive team has the option of either punting or trying to convert a first down if they don't cross the midfield line on the first three tries.
Once the offensive team crosses midfield, it has three plays to score a touchdown, which is worth six points.
If a touchdown is scored, the offense can either attempt to score an extra point from the 50-yard line or try for a two-point conversion from the 10-yard line.