LOS ANGELES (WISH) — The Los Angeles Olympic Games are still four years away, but an overnight surprise will build the buzz surrounding it considerably.

The International Olympic Committee has agreed to add five sports to the games, including flag football – the first-ever form of “American” football to be a medal sport.

The Olympic form of the sport has five players on the field for each team. The field is 70 yards long and 30 yards wide.

Each series starts on the 5-yard line, and teams have four downs to reach midfield. From there, they have another four downs to try to score. Once inside the 5-yard line (touch football’s equivalent of an end zone), teams cannot run rushing plays and must pass for a touchdown.

Other notable rules: Players wear three flags, and pulling any of them off of the ball carrier immediately ends the play. Each half is 20 minutes long, and the clock runs continuously and only stops between plays after the two-minute warning. Ties end with a “sudden death” overtime.

The inclusion of flag football echoes a decision of nearly one century ago when the 1932 Los Angeles games held a demonstration of American football.

Indianapolis-based USA Football will play a critical Olympic role, too. The organization says it will select the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams

The racquet sport squash will also make its Olympic debut in Los Angeles. It is one of the world’s most popular sports by overall participation, but athletes in it have never before had the chance to “go for the gold.”

The other sports added for the 2028 games are far more familiar to the Olympics.

• Baseball and softball have been part of at several editions of the Olympic Games, most recently at Tokyo 2020.
• Cricket was on the program for the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris.
• Lacrosse was included in 1904 in St Louis 1904 and four years later in London.

In explaining the decision, the official announcement quotes International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach as saying, “The choice of these five new sports is in line with the American sports culture and will showcase iconic American sports to the world while bringing international sports to the United States. These sports will make the Olympic Games LA28 unique. Their inclusion will allow the Olympic Movement to engage with new athlete and fan communities in the US and globally.”

The NFL reports the decision is an outgrowth of a partnership between the league and the International Federation of American Football aimed at placing flag football at the heart of the growth of the sport internationally.

What do you think of the new games? Should flag football be an Olympic sport? Is squash long overdue? Will baseball and softball ‘stick’ this time?