Cricket (T20), baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash have been officially included as additional sports for the Los Angeles Olympic Games 2028 (LA28). The decision was taken by the 141st Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Mumbai on October 16.
For cricket, baseball/softball and lacrosse it would be a return to the Olympic Games, while flag football and squash would be making their Olympic debut in LA.
IOC president Thomas Bach made the announcement of cricket’s inclusion along with other sports after the recommendation of the Executive Board was put to vote.
Under IOC rules, each host city can request the inclusion of several sports for their edition of the Games. The five sports organisers put forward had already been given the nod from the IOC Executive Board.
The selection of sports is the result of a thorough process and analysis based on evaluation criteria set out before the process began, including gender equality. It considered the utilisation of existing facilities, involving a wide range of sports communities both in the United States and globally, and incorporating some of the most popular sports in the United States and across the globe.
Cricket
Cricket has been played in the Olympics only once before, in Paris in 1900, when England defeated France. Cricket has more than 2.5 billion fans worldwide and represents an invaluable opportunity to engage with new countries and communities, including the growing Indian community in the US. Cricket brings a vast social media following, the men’s 2024 Cricket T20 World Cup will be hosted in the USA, and a new major professional league, Major League Cricket, was recently launched in the USA. T20 – with a men’s and a women’s tournament – is the format that would be played at LA28.
Baseball and softball
Baseball and softball have been part of the programme at several editions of the Olympic Games, most recently at Tokyo 2020. They are among some of the most iconic American sports, while four continents are represented in the world ranking top 10. The recent 2023 World Baseball Classic also set a tournament attendance record, with over one million spectators. Baseball and softball both have significant popularity among young people in the United States. Baseball has the second highest domestic youth participation, with approximately 2.2 million young participants (aged 13-17), whilst softball features in the top five most popular high school sports for girls in the country.
Flag football
American football is the most popular sport in the US, and flag football, which will be making its Olympic debut at LA28, is growing fast both domestically and internationally. More children aged 6-12 play flag football than tackle football in the US and, at the elite level, there are approximately 20 million flag football players across over 100 countries, with gender-balanced athlete participation.
Lacrosse
Lacrosse was created by the Indigenous Peoples of North America and started to spread internationally in the 19th century, initially to Great Britain and Australia. Its potential inclusion on the LA28 sports programme (with the sixes format) would be its third appearance at the Olympic Games, after St Louis 1904 and London 1908. Its presence at LA28 would provide a unique opportunity to connect its North American heritage with its growing youth appeal. Lacrosse is experiencing tremendous development both in the US and globally, with four continents represented in the world ranking top 10.
Squash
Squash (singles) would be making its Olympic debut at LA28. It is already included in eight other multi-sport events, with four continents represented in the world ranking top 10. The sport has enjoyed spectacular growth over the last few years, especially among young people, with an 87 per cent increase in squash participation between 2015 and 2019 in the United States.
