Two old Olympic sports and three new sports are joining the Olympic family in Los Angeles in 2028.
The Guardian says on Monday that, based on its sources, the list of sports for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics will include at least cricket, flag football, baseball and softball.
According to Brittilehti’s information, LA’s organizing committee is expected to announce its sports for the games within the next 24 hours and at the same time propose that lacrosse and squash should also be included in the Olympic family.
The Los Angeles Times also reported at the same time that the sports are likely to be accepted for the 2028 Olympics. However, the International Olympic Committee has not responded to the magazine’s requests for comment.
Baseball and softball as well as cricket have been part of the Olympic program before. Baseball and softball are among the 10 most popular sports in the world, and in 2020 their combined number of fans was more than 65 million. Internationally, the sport is therefore widespread and well-known.
As a demonstration sport, baseball was part of the program of the Olympic Games in 1900, 1912, 1936, 1956, 1964, 1984 and 1988. However, it did not become an official Olympic sport until Barcelona 1992. Its related game, softball, was included as a women’s sport in Atlanta 1996. Baseball and softball were absent from the Olympic program in 2012 and 2016, but in Tokyo for the 2020 Games, they were taken back at the special request of the host country, Japan.
Finnish women aim to participate in softball
The Finnish women’s softball national team has been aiming for Los Angeles for a couple of years now. The Olympic Committee’s Top Sports Unit has been involved in the financing of the project since 2022.
Instead, flag ball, squash and lacrosse would make their Olympic debut, if the meeting of the International Olympic Committee approves them on the 15th-17th. October in Mumbai.
Flag football is an attractive alternative to the Olympics due to the popularity of the popular NFL, i.e. the professional American football league, in the United States.
Cricket has been played once before at the Olympics in Paris in 1900, when England and France played one match for the outright gold medal. A men’s and women’s tournament will be held in Los Angeles, opening a potentially lucrative market to Asia.
The Guardian previously revealed in July that cricket is “very likely” to be involved in Los Angeles as the International Olympic Committee wants to take advantage of India’s huge population and economic resources.