Cricket in Olympics 2028: A Global Game-Changer

The Cricket World Cup touted as the pinnacle of cricketing glory, might soon have company in the realm of grandeur. From 2028 onward, cricket might be played in the Olympic Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is poised to endorse this inclusion during its Mumbai meeting on October 15th, marking a historic stride alongside lacrosse, squash, flag football, and baseball or softball.

The notion of cricket in the Olympics holds a revolutionary spark. While cricket made a fleeting appearance at the 1900 Paris Olympics (where a makeshift English touring side trounced a French team comprising mostly English expatriates), this potential return heralds a significant juncture.

Squash, despite fervent appeals, has remained excluded. Meanwhile, flag football, a diminutive cousin of American football, has largely lingered within American borders. Yet, bold additions have become a recurrent theme.

Paris 2024 will flaunt breakdancing among its 32 sports, and the forthcoming ratified additions will elevate the count to 33 for Los Angeles 2028, contrasting sharply with the nine sports at the inaugural Athens Games in 1896.

The early Olympics resembled local galas more than global spectacles. In 1900, a Belgian contender clinched gold in live pigeon shooting by downing 21 birds in a day—an event that swiftly faded away. The tug-of-war also met its demise after the 1920 games.

As the Olympics evolved in seriousness and scale, so did its sports portfolio. The IOC avidly pursues novel sports, despite some bordering on obscurity.

Paris's criterion for 2024 emphasized inclusivity, gender balance, and youth-centricity, leading to the selection of breakdancing, skateboarding, and surfing. Similarly, Los Angeles seeks sports to captivate new enthusiasts and athletes.

Beyond rhetoric, the multiplication of sports spells increased revenue—a logical pursuit considering most Olympics operate at a loss. Introducing new sports emerges as a lucrative avenue.

Take cricket, for instance. Its inclusion in Los Angeles is projected to draw a larger viewership from the Indian subcontinent, with anticipated broadcast rights worth millions, supplementing the Paris games' $20 million from Indian broadcasting.

Moreover, the Olympics offer a lifeline to niche sports like archery and wrestling, securing their financial sustenance through a slice of sponsorship revenue and government funding driven by medal aspirations.

The global stage also illuminates lesser-known athletes, captivating attention through the lens of nationalism, evident in unlikely attractions like dressage.

Even established sports benefit. The showcase of American basketball stars at the 1992 Barcelona Games propelled the sport's global allure, fostering an influx of foreign players into the NBA, the premier basketball league.

Cricket's governing bodies, overseeing a select group of nations, and American football's administration, representing essentially one country, anticipate a similar global surge through Los Angeles 2028.

However, broadening the Olympic spectrum incurs costs. Diverse sports necessitate specialized venues, posing challenges like finding suitable cricket grounds in Los Angeles.

The Tokyo Olympics reportedly incurred around $35 billion, a significant portion allocated to constructing venues, including an unused $1.4 billion national stadium due to the pandemic. As cities grow reluctant to shoulder such burdens, Paris and Los Angeles clinched hosting rights when other cities declined.

To entice potential hosts, the IOC permits local sports proposals (as seen with flag football in Los Angeles) and imposes a cap of 10,500 athletes. While Paris adheres to this limit, Los Angeles may surpass it.

The organizers, so far, axed breakdancing from their roster. Once integrated, Olympic sports tend to endure, evidenced by the uproar when wrestling faced elimination from the Tokyo Games.

A straightforward solution looms: decentralizing the Olympics across multiple cities. Tradition necessitates a single host, yet a shared burden and honor across various cities or even countries, like lacrosse in Montreal, football in Manchester, and cricket in Mumbai, could curtail individual investment while transforming the Olympics into a truly global fiesta.

Attendees focusing on showjumping in Paris might not gravitate to breakdancing—a diverse array of sports can unite an increasingly divided world. One location may not be the sole answer.

Cricket in Olympics signifies not just a sporting addition but a potential paradigm shift. It heralds inclusivity, revenue influx, global expansion, and a celebration uniting cultures worldwide.

As the cricketing world anticipates its Olympic renaissance, the larger canvas of sports fans eagerly awaits an augmented spectacle that transcends boundaries, embodying the Olympic spirit in its truest essence.