Summer Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 Sports Programme Road to LA 2028

[Rafa Maciel 1,701]

Multiple media outlets in UK reporting that T20 cricket is "very likely" to feature on the 2028 Olympic programme. With the format being a pool of 5 teams for both men and women. 

 

Qualification would be based on world rankings so would include , , ,  and  for men and , , ,  and  for women (always assuming Scottish cricket don't raise any stupid objections) If they reserve spot for  as home nation, then  would lose out in both cases.

 

It looks like this is purely being driven by money - if cricket is included, the value of broadcast rights in India could increase to 10 times their current value - but it would eat up about 110 athlete quotas.

 

Given it has to be a pretty safe bet that baseball/softball is also going to return to the programme and that is going to require around 230 athlete quotas, it begs the questions, where do these 340 quotas come from? 

 

Looking at the Paris quota breakdown, for the non-core sports (breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing), given USA will be expecting to medal in skateboarding and surfing, I can't see them being dropped. Likewise, I think sport climbing is becoming established in the programme so would be unlikely to be dropped. This means the only sport not likely to return in Los Angeles is breaking but that only frees up 36 quotas. Boxing, Weightlifting and Modern Pentathlon aren't officially on the schedule yet so you'd have to assume that the quotas will come from those 3 sports. Modern pentathlon probably joins breaking as a goner - freeing up another 72 quotas but that would still leave 200 short. 

 

Losing 23 individual medal events to be replaced by 4 team medals would seem to be a bit extreme.

[Olympian1010 8,282]

14 minutes ago, Rafa Maciel said:

Given it has to be a pretty safe bet that baseball/softball is also going to return to the programme and that is going to require around 230 athlete quotas, it begs the questions, where do these 340 quotas come from? 

Everyone keeps assuming this, but I haven’t really seen anything to suggest that. I spoke with the LA28 CEO last fall, and she was very tight-lipped about the topic. 
 

The NFL and IFAF are making a huge push for flag football. I see personally see it as the favorite, but again, LA28 and the IOC have held their cards very close to their chest on this. 
 

In terms of cricket, the reasoning makes sense (even if I personally wouldn’t select it as an Angeleño myself), but I’ve been burned by British media before, so I’ll wait for better sources. 

[Roamingrover86 957]

16 minutes ago, Rafa Maciel said:

Multiple media outlets in UK reporting that T20 cricket is "very likely" to feature on the 2028 Olympic programme. With the format being a pool of 5 teams for both men and women. 

 

Qualification would be based on world rankings so would include , , ,  and  for men and , , ,  and  for women (always assuming Scottish cricket don't raise any stupid objections) If they reserve spot for  as home nation, then  would lose out in both cases.

 

It looks like this is purely being driven by money - if cricket is included, the value of broadcast rights in India could increase to 10 times their current value - but it would eat up about 110 athlete quotas.

 

Given it has to be a pretty safe bet that baseball/softball is also going to return to the programme and that is going to require around 230 athlete quotas, it begs the questions, where do these 340 quotas come from? 

 

Looking at the Paris quota breakdown, for the non-core sports (breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing), given USA will be expecting to medal in skateboarding and surfing, I can't see them being dropped. Likewise, I think sport climbing is becoming established in the programme so would be unlikely to be dropped. This means the only sport not likely to return in Los Angeles is breaking but that only frees up 36 quotas. Boxing, Weightlifting and Modern Pentathlon aren't officially on the schedule yet so you'd have to assume that the quotas will come from those 3 sports. Modern pentathlon probably joins breaking as a goner - freeing up another 72 quotas but that would still leave 200 short. 

 

Losing 23 individual medal events to be replaced by 4 team medals would seem to be a bit extreme.

Various news outlets in India are reporting the same. They expect Cricket (T20 version) to be in the programme for LA 2028 games.

what more, if Cricket does get a spot in LA programme it will certainly be in Brisbane 2032 , with cricket being quite popular in Australia. 
 

[intoronto 6,848]

This would be a mistake. Now the current program will receive further cuts!

[Rafa Maciel 1,701]

8 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

The NFL and IFAF are making a huge push for flag football. I see personally see it as the favorite, but again, LA28 and the IOC have held their cards very close to their chest on this. 

Which nations are active in flag football? It's not a sport that I'm familiar with.

[Olympian1010 8,282]

10 minutes ago, Rafa Maciel said:

Which nations are active in flag football? It's not a sport that I'm familiar with.

 qualified teams for The World Games 2022.  won the women’s gold medal, with their star player being featured an the annual NFL ad that run during the Super Bowl.  also got a bronze in the women’s event.  won the men’s, with  taking silver. 21 countries sent teams to the men’s world championship in 2021.

 

I personally don’t like the format they use. I don’t feel like it created the most entertaining product, but I’m also not a big American Football fan in general. 
 

If I had my pick of the sports, lacrosse sixes would definitely be selected. I found that highly entertaining in Birmingham, and the  v.  rivalry is great.  got a shock bronze medal as well, so upsets are possible. 

Edited July 29, 2023 by Olympian1010

[JoshMartini007 2,820]

If they want to add sports then they need to expand the athlete quota. Very simple.

 

Also none of this 5-6 entrant team sports. 12 teams or bust.

[Cinnamon Bun 911]

1 hour ago, Rafa Maciel said:

Multiple media outlets in UK reporting that T20 cricket is "very likely" to feature on the 2028 Olympic programme. With the format being a pool of 5 teams for both men and women. 

 

Qualification would be based on world rankings so would include , , ,  and  for men and , , ,  and  for women (always assuming Scottish cricket don't raise any stupid objections) If they reserve spot for  as home nation, then  would lose out in both cases.

 

It looks like this is purely being driven by money - if cricket is included, the value of broadcast rights in India could increase to 10 times their current value - but it would eat up about 110 athlete quotas.

 

Given it has to be a pretty safe bet that baseball/softball is also going to return to the programme and that is going to require around 230 athlete quotas, it begs the questions, where do these 340 quotas come from? 

 

Looking at the Paris quota breakdown, for the non-core sports (breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing), given USA will be expecting to medal in skateboarding and surfing, I can't see them being dropped. Likewise, I think sport climbing is becoming established in the programme so would be unlikely to be dropped. This means the only sport not likely to return in Los Angeles is breaking but that only frees up 36 quotas. Boxing, Weightlifting and Modern Pentathlon aren't officially on the schedule yet so you'd have to assume that the quotas will come from those 3 sports. Modern pentathlon probably joins breaking as a goner - freeing up another 72 quotas but that would still leave 200 short. 

 

Losing 23 individual medal events to be replaced by 4 team medals would seem to be a bit extreme.

Don't know why it's expected that Modern Pentathlon will be axed along with breaking, it's one of the more unique sports at the games and it seems as though they want to keep it with this switch from riding to the Krypton Factor obstacle course. Weightlifting is the most likely candidate to be dropped (it needs a couple games away to sort itself out). I'm also not sure on Baseball/Softball being a certainty. Yes it's probably the most likely other option, but if they want to truly promote Cricket in America I can't imagine they'd want its alternative to be competing alongside it. Me personally, Flag Football and Squash would be more lucrative and better balanced options - and hopefully Squash can finally get it's long awaited opportunity at a games.  

[Cinnamon Bun 911]

6 minutes ago, JoshMartini007 said:

If they want to add sports then they need to expand the athlete quota. Very simple.

 

Also none of this 5-6 entrant team sports. 12 teams or bust.

I've always wondered in regards to the athlete quota if it has to be set in stone before the bidding takes place for the next respective games or if it's able to be sporadically changed before the programme is confirmed? But yeah, only 5 teams for Cricket is pathetic - 12 would do it justice and show off its versatility in both genders.  

[Olympian1010 8,282]

2 hours ago, JoshMartini007 said:

12 teams or bust.

I think 8 teams is acceptable for host picks.