Baseball and Softball Return to LA28 With Equal Team Numbers for First Time in Olympic History

The World Baseball Softball Confederation announced on April 9 that, for the first time in Olympic history, every team sport at the 2028 Games will include an equal number of men’s and women’s squads — with baseball and softball each returning as six-team tournaments.

The International Olympic Committee’s executive board also approved the full event program and athlete quota for the 2028 Summer Games on the same day.

Games-changing announcements!! ????​

We're setting the stage for an iconic Games in 2028, which just got even more epic with our latest medal event program updates. ​

The 2028 Games will feature exciting new mixed team events, award a record number of Olympic medals and showcase… pic.twitter.com/Kw0AA0FzDD

— LA28 (@LA28) April 9, 2025

The full 2028 Olympic Games program is available on the Olympic website.

According to the WBSC, “Baseball and softball will feature a combined total of 234 athletes at the LA28 Olympic Games — 144 in baseball (24 players per team) and 90 in softball (15 players per team). This mirrors the number of teams and athletes that participated in the sport’s most recent Olympic appearance at Tokyo 2020.”

The LA28 sports program includes 36 sports and 351 medal events — 22 more than Paris 2024. The program maintains the core athlete quota of 10,500, with an additional 698 spots allocated to the five sports proposed by the LA28 Organizing Committee: baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash.

WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari leads the governing body for both baseball and softball.

“This is a very important step on our road to the LA28 Olympics,” Fraccari said. “Baseball and softball are truly global sports known for their gender equality and athlete-focused approach — all core values of the Olympic Movement. We can’t wait for the qualification process to begin.”

USA Softball’s main headquarters in Oklahoma City, home of the NCAA Division I Women’s College World Series, will host softball at the 2028 Olympics.

The IOC has not yet confirmed the venue for baseball at the 2028 Olympics. Dodger Stadium is under strong consideration, having hosted the sport as a demonstration event in 1984.

Baseball served as a demonstration sport at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics before becoming an official medal event at the 1992 Games in Barcelona.

Talks are ongoing about allowing Major League Baseball players to compete in Los Angeles. The MLB Players Association and club owners must revisit the issue after the 2026 season, when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires.

Although baseball was absent from the 2024 Paris Olympics, the sport will return in 2028 in Los Angeles. Baseball was not among the 44 sports at the 2024 Games due to a 2020 IOC decision prioritizing skateboarding, surfing, and breakdancing.

Baseball debuted in the Olympics as an exhibition game during the 1900 Paris Games.

Baseball and softball were not included in the 2012 London or 2016 Rio Olympics but returned at the 2020 Tokyo Games, which were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the 2020 Olympics, baseball featured six teams: host nation Japan, Israel, Mexico, South Korea, the Dominican Republic, and the United States.

Softball also featured six teams in Tokyo: Japan, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Australia, and the United States.

The 2027 WBSC Premier12 tournament will serve as a qualifier for the 2028 Olympics, alongside regional events in Europe/Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas.

The 2027 Premier12 tournament will occur after the regular seasons in MLB, Nippon Professional Baseball (Japan), the KBO (Korea), the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol, and Taiwan’s CPBL.

Olympic Baseball Results

1984 Los Angeles – Gold: United States, Silver: Japan, Bronze: Chinese Taipei
1988 Seoul – Gold: United States, Silver: Japan, Bronze: Puerto Rico
1992 Barcelona – Gold: Cuba, Silver: Chinese Taipei, Bronze: Japan
1996 Atlanta – Gold: Cuba, Silver: Japan, Bronze: United States
2000 Sydney – Gold: United States, Silver: Cuba, Bronze: South Korea
2004 Athens – Gold: Cuba, Silver: Australia, Bronze: Japan
2008 Beijing – Gold: South Korea, Silver: Cuba, Bronze: United States
2020 Tokyo – Gold: Japan, Silver: United States, Bronze: Dominican Republic

Olympic Softball Results

1996 Atlanta – Gold: United States, Silver: China, Bronze: Australia
2000 Sydney – Gold: United States, Silver: Japan, Bronze: Australia
2004 Athens – Gold: United States, Silver: Australia, Bronze: Japan
2008 Beijing – Gold: Japan, Silver: United States, Bronze: Australia
2020 Tokyo – Gold: Japan, Silver: United States, Bronze: Canada

Photo courtesy of @la28games and @wbsc via Instagram