7. Cricket among five sports added to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic program
Los Angeles was awarded the 2028 Olympic Games back in 2017, but this edition made headlines in October when the organizing committee cashed in on its privilege to propose additional sports to the program.
It was no surprise that baseball/softball, flag football and lacrosse were included – all locally important and symbolic for Los Angeles. Squash was a bit of an outlier but added after numerous failed attempts.
But the most talked about new addition is a team sport that is an enormous fan favorite more than 13,000 kilometers away in India: cricket.
Why was the T20 version of cricket added to the LA 28 program that is already heavy with team sports and will likely far exceed the Olympic Charter’s athlete quota?
Simple: growth of the Olympic Movement.
Due to the new ways sports are being consumed by younger generations – through streaming and social media – the Olympics risk a decline in future broadcast revenues and could potentially face a decline in the growth of the Games themselves.
Adding cricket to the LA 28 program is a direct path to new fans across the world’s most populous nation, providing the IOC with great growth potential and access to a very lucrative broadcast and streaming rights deal in India. This was definitely a win for the IOC, and not necessarily LA 28, and there is evidence that negotiations around this decision were tenuous.
In September a media call was scheduled to announce the chosen new sports for the program, but that was called off at the last minute and officials said the decision was not ready. Later, United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) officials claimed discussions were stalled.
When cricket was announced among the other more popular American pastimes it became apparent both sides held their ground at the expense of an overloaded sports program that seems contrary to the IOC’s Agenda 2020+5 promoting sustainability.
A cricket return at the already-scheduled Brisbane 2032 Games in Australia would have seemed more appropriate, using the renovated historic Gabba cricket grounds. But the move make clear the IOC understands there is a more immediate need to bolster growth of the Games that just couldn’t wait.
[Top Story #6 on page 6]
