LA28 Seeks to Add Baseball, Flag Football, Others for Olympics
Major League Baseball and the National Football League wound up among the big winners Monday as the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games recommended baseball/women’s softball, and, for the first time, flag football for the 2028 Summer Olympics to be staged in Los Angeles.
Cricket, lacrosse and squash round out the five participation sports recommended by LA28, adding those to the 28 sports already included regularly in the games.
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The host committee can recommend sports to be part of the Summer Olympics that are not typically included in the program. LA28’s additional sports proposal will be reviewed and put forward by the International Olympic Committee Executive Board for ratification at the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai on Oct. 16.
“LA28’s proposed sports ignite the imagination on the field of play and drive culture off it. They’re relevant, innovative and community-based, played in backyards, schoolyards, community centers, stadiums and parks across the U.S. and the globe,” LA28 chairperson Casey Wasserman said in a media release. “They will bring new athletes to the Games, engage diverse fanbases and expand the Games’ presence in digital spaces, further amplifying LA28’s mission to deliver an unparalleled experience.”
Baseball has been on the outs with the IOC for decades, mostly because of MLB’s refusal to interrupt or alter its regular season and allow MLB players on the teams’ 40-man rosters to participate.
When Japan hosted the last Summer Olympics, held in 2021 rather than 2020 because of the pandemic, baseball was also a requested participation sport. It’s not part of the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris. In Tokyo, Team Japan defeated a rag-tag team of minor league and former big-league U.S. players to win the gold medal. The U.S., managed by former Angels skipper Mike Scioscia, settled for the silver.
The Japanese also defeated Team USA to win this year’s World Baseball Classic in Miami, when Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout to end the title game.
It may be a long time before baseball is included in the Summer Olympics after 2028, unless MLB changes its approach to the games.
The NFL has been lobbying LA28 to include flag football in the Olympics for the past two years as the sport has begun to gain popularity in the U.S. as a youth alternative to high-impact tackle football.
“[That version] of the game is spreading around the world. This is just anecdotal, but I was just at the Pro Bowl, and there were multiple countries playing it,” Peter O’Reilly, an NFL executive vice president who oversees international, said in an interview during Super Bowl week at L.A. in 2022.
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