The thinking behind cricket at the Los Angeles Olympics

The lure of the US market and the massive diaspora from the Indian subcontinent are the twin factors that convinced organisers that T20 cricket was destined to be part of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (LA28). That is the collective viewpoint shared by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the LA28 local organising committee and the ICC.

On Friday, after the IOC’s executive board had ratified LA28’s proposal to add five new sports including cricket to the roster, Bach had pointed out that Indians provide the second-most hits on the IOC’s social-media handles, highlighting their interest in the Olympics. Indian broadcaster Viacom18 had bought the rights to broadcast the Olympics for US$ 31 million, according to the Economic Times, between 2022-24.

These numbers, which are bound to peak with cricket now part of the Games, have hinted at the financial benefits the IOC could derive from the Indian market, but Bach disapproved of such a claim. “This [financial benefit] is not a consideration which comes there in the first line. This can be the consequence.”

ICC chair: ‘We are popular, but we have looked to continue to grow ‘

While the ICC has highlighted how boarding the Olympics train will take T20 cricket to untapped destinations, thus enabling the growth of the sport, the question gathering momentum is: how is that possible when only six teams will feature in LA28?

Considering cricket boasts of an audience of supposedly two-plus billion, with the sport hugely popular in the Commonwealth countries, Barclay was asked why the ICC still wanted to enter the Olympics. “We consider ourselves a sport that is represented globally, but there are areas that aren’t represented as well as they could be,” he said. “The US is one of those, but there are others as well. Joining the Olympic movement will help raise the profile of the sport even further. So yes, we are popular, it’s a fast growing team sport, but we have looked to continue to grow and offer the sport to fans, athletes and members right across the globe. So this helps us to do that.”

LA28 chair: ‘A mistake if we didn’t include cricket’

Casey Wasserman, LA28’s chairperson, has been a fan of cricket ever since he experienced the “electric” atmosphere watching an IPL match in person in 2010. He is convinced that cricket will be a success at LA28.

“From the very beginning of [LA] getting the [2028] Olympics, cricket has been on the list of sports we were excited to think about,” Wasserman told the media on Monday. “As we went through the process, it became quite obvious that we’d be making a mistake if we didn’t include it. So we’re happy to engage all 2.5 billion fans, hope they tune in, they watch, they come to Los Angeles and watch the best cricket in the world played in Los Angeles for the first time in the Olympics in a long time.”

‘Women’s cricket played a critical role’

Wasserman’s colleague Niccolo Campriani, the LA28 director, travelled to Birmingham in the summer of 2022 to watch the Commonwealth Games. A former triple-gold winner in shooting at the Olympics, Campriani, who is from Italy, was keen to watch women’s T20 cricket, which had returned to the Commonwealth Games fold.

“The Commonwealth Games was just amazing,” Campriani told the media on Monday. “We all loved it. We got a glimpse of what Commonwealth cricket can be in in LA context. We were not planning to fly to an IPL game. That observation was absolutely critical. So yeah, women’s cricket played a critical role.”

Campriani, who has trained with and competed with Indian Olympic legend Abhinav Bindra, could not hold back his excitement about cricket coming to the Olympics. “It’s a game-changer for the Olympic movement. The idea was really to create that perfect combination of American sport to be showcased to the world, but also introducing global sports that are not as developed in the US market. And I feel like the stars have aligned with Major League Cricket that started this year as well as the T20 World Cup coming in 2024.”

A lot of finer details – ranging from the qualification process to squad sizes and venues – will be worked out over the next several years. Campriani said he wouldn’t bother about all those questions right now. “As an athlete [myself], it’s going to be life-changing. I don’t know how many young athletes right now are playing cricket in this exact moment. They can chase an Olympic dream now.”