Baseball, softball will be back for 2028 Olympics in LA

Baseball and softball are coming back to the Olympics.

Both have been added to the programme for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, along with lacrosse, squash, cricket and flag football, in a vote conducted by the International Olympic Committee.

The newly added sports were voted in as a single package at an IOC meeting in Mumbai, India, on Monday.

“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 World Baseball Softball Confederation president Riccardo Fraccari in a statement.

“The WBSC firmly believes that baseball and softball will help millions of fans engage with the Olympic Games, especially with [the United States] being home to many of the sports’ best players and biggest stars from across the world. It is going to be an electric atmosphere in L.A., where the best baseball and softball athletes in the world will have the opportunity to play on the biggest stage in front of a global audience of billions.”

Baseball and softball were featured on the programme for the 2020 Tokyo Games, returning to the Olympics for the first time since the Beijing Games in '08. Host Japan won gold medals in both sports. Neither will be part of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

The 2028 Summer Games will mark the seventh time baseball has been an official medal sport at the Olympics, following 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2020. Softball made its debut as an official medal sport in 1996 and was also played in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2020.