Will Cricket Be in the 2028 Olympics?

The International Olympic Committee approved cricket (T20 format) for inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics program at its Mumbai session in October 2023, alongside flag football, baseball/softball, lacrosse, and squash. This was a historic first for cricket — the sport has not appeared at the Olympics since 1900 (Paris Games, where Great Britain defeated France in the only cricket Olympic match ever played). IOC approval is the governing confirmation; the 10% residual risk reflects implementation uncertainties rather than a possibility of reversal.

India's cricket media rights generate approximately $6.2 billion per ICC cycle (2024-27), making the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) the world's wealthiest sports federation relative to its sport's size. India's Olympic TV audience alone exceeds 400 million viewers for events where India competes. NBC/Peacock's LA 2028 rights holders have explicitly cited Indian broadcast value as a reason the IOC prioritized cricket's inclusion. If India participates (which requires BCCI player release agreements), the 2028 Olympic cricket broadcast deal could be the most valuable in Olympic sport history outside athletics and swimming.

T20 cricket — a 20-over-per-side format lasting approximately 3 hours — is the perfect Olympic format. Unlike Test cricket (5 days) or ODIs (8 hours), T20 fits neatly into the Olympic schedule with morning and afternoon sessions possible. The ICC T20 World Cup has demonstrated the format's global appeal: the 2024 USA/West Indies T20 World Cup drew 70 million viewers for the India-Pakistan match alone. T20's pace, power hitting, and dramatic finishes translate better to casual, new-to-cricket audiences than longer formats.

The USA's successful co-hosting of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup — including an upset victory over Pakistan in the group stage — demonstrated unexpected US domestic cricket interest and infrastructure capability. New York's Nassau County Cricket Stadium and Dallas's Grand Prairie Stadium have established temporary but credible US cricket venues. SoFi Stadium in Inglewood (90,704 capacity) is provisionally designated for Olympic cricket finals, though the logistics of converting an NFL stadium to a cricket oval require careful planning.

Cricket's Olympic inclusion faces a unique challenge: the BCCI (India's cricket board) controls player releases and has historically been reluctant to cede authority to the ICC for inter-board matters. The 2028 Olympics conflict with the 2028 IPL season (which runs April-May) and potentially with bilateral tour commitments. ICC must negotiate a binding player release agreement that compels all 10 full member boards to release contracted players. As of early 2026, the ICC-Olympic cricket working group reports 'productive discussions' but no signed agreement.

Olympic cricket will likely feature 6 men's teams and 6 women's teams — far fewer than the ICC's 12+ T20 World Cup participants. The qualification structure (ICC rankings, regional qualifiers, host nation automatic entry for USA) is under development. Key question: if India, Australia, England, Pakistan, South Africa, and the West Indies are the 6 men's teams, the tournament becomes an elite mini-World Cup. If qualification is more open, unfamiliar nations could enter, potentially reducing broadcast value but increasing global spread.

“Shah's confirmation of BCCI's intention to participate was a critical development — previous BCCI presidents had opposed Olympics involvement for fear of IOC governance oversight. Shah's ICC chairmanship (from 2024) gives him leverage to align BCCI and ICC interests. 'The Olympics is the biggest stage in sport. India must be there.' His statement was interpreted as effectively confirming Indian participation subject to player release mechanics.”

Source: Jay Shah (ICC Chairman / BCCI Secretary)

“Wasserman highlighted cricket as one of the top 3 commercially impactful additions to the LA 2028 program (alongside flag football and breakdancing, before breakdancing was removed). 'The South Asian diaspora in Los Angeles is enormous. An India-Pakistan Olympic cricket match at SoFi Stadium would be a truly extraordinary event.' LA's Indian-American population exceeds 250,000.”

Source: Casey Wasserman (LA 2028 CEO)

“The ICC's internal market analysis, shared with the IOC during the approval process, projected that Olympic cricket would reach a combined audience of 2.6 billion viewers across the 2028 games — primarily from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the South Asian diaspora globally. This would make Olympic cricket the most-watched event outside the Opening Ceremony and athletics finals.”

Source: ICC (International Cricket Council)

“Ponting, speaking at a Cricket Australia advisory panel, predicted Australia as sporting favorites based on T20 depth and recent World Cup performances (2021, 2023 T20WC winner). However, he acknowledged the commercial reality: 'The Olympics is about India when cricket is involved. Every broadcast decision, every scheduling choice, will be made with India in mind. That's just the economics of cricket.'”

Source: Ricky Ponting (Cricket Australia Director / Former Captain)

“Kohli, India's most prominent cricketer, said winning an Olympic gold medal would be 'the one thing missing from my cricket career.' At 37 in 2028, Kohli may be near the end of his international career but expressed a strong desire to participate if eligible. His statement generated enormous social media engagement and confirmed the Indian public's emotional investment in Olympic cricket.”

Source: Virat Kohli (India and Royal Challengers Bangalore)