Dodger Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, could be a potential host venue for Olympic Baseball in 2028. (Photo by Getty Images)
Staff Reports
World Baseball Network
Baseball and softball are among five sports that will be added to the program for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the International Olympic Committee announced early Monday.
Baseball and softball were dropped from Olympic competition for 2012 in London and 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, but were part of the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, which were played in 2021 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The two sports, which are governed by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, are not on the program for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
“We are delighted that baseball and softball have been confirmed as part of the sports programme at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 by the IOC Session,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari in a statement released by the WBSC. “The WBSC firmly believes that baseball and softball will help millions of fans engage with the Olympic Games, especially with USA being home to many of the sports’ best players and biggest stars from across the world.”
Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported that Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Player’s Association sent a joint letter of support for the reinstatement of baseball and softball as Olympic sports for the 2028 games. Whether or not Major League Baseball players would be able to compete in Los Angeles remains to be determined.
Baseball was first played in the Olympic Games as a demonstration sport in the 1904 Summer Games in St. Louis, Missouri, and was a demonstration sport again in 1912 at the Stockholm Games. Baseball returned as a demonstration sport in the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin, the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games, the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games, the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, and the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea. A Finnish variant of baseball called Pesäpallo was a demonstration sport at the 1952 Summer games in Helsinki.