TORONTO. It’s an Olympic cricket tournament. It’s also part of a multi-faceted business deal that’s set to benefit key stakeholders who aren’t necessarily in it for the good of the Games.
The October 2023 announcement that cricket was set to be added to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic program surprised many and confused countless others. In contrast to the other additional sports – baseball and softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash – a cricket match can’t even be identified by most mainstream sports fans across the United States.
The T20 version of the sport, a shorter version of cricket that seems to suit new fans, was chosen to feature at the Games.
Organizing committees are given the opportunity to add domestically popular sports to their programs helping to ensure increased local engagement while benefitting from the economics of already existing venues.
So why cricket?
On the surface the sport was proposed by LA 28 to help the International Olympic Committee (IOC) engage the Indian population – the world’s largest – where cricket is wildly popular and interest in the Olympics has been tepid. The financial opportunities for the IOC in India including broadcast and streaming revenues, sponsorship deals and the overall growth of the Games will be invaluable, benefitting the entire Olympic Movement and sport development around the world.
But there’s more, much more that those involved probably don’t want to talk about.
