Cricket News

Cricket all set to return to Olympics after 128 years

Broadcasting rights to increase by nearly 100 times by doing so.

Sep 5, 2023 1:02 pm

Good news awaits cricket fans as the sport is all set to make a comeback in the Olympics for the first time in 128 years. The first and last time the sport was part of the Olympics was in 1900 in Paris. Since then, cricket has not been a part of the Games. But everything will change, as T20 cricket will be one of the events in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

According to the reports, the International Olympic Committee’s executive board will discuss the sports that can be added to the Olympics in 2028 on Friday. The reports suggest that both men’s and women’s T20 cricket will enter the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Given the popularity of the sport in the Asian region, the international Olympic board is interested in adding the sport to the global event.

Thomas Bach, the current President of the International Olympic Committee, is in favor of bringing cricket to the Olympics, as the sport has a huge following in Asian countries like Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. These countries do not dominate the Olympics but are very good at cricket. In turn, the move to include cricket will bring a lot of fans to the Olympics.

Cricket can change the broadcasting rights in the South Asian region

According to the reports, the current proposal is to have a 5-team competition at the Olympics for both women’s and men’s categories. The teams will qualify based on their international rankings during the time of qualification. Men’s and women’s cricket will be part of the Asian Games 2023 which will take place from the 23rd of September later this month in Hangzhou.

Women’s cricket was a part of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which was like a testing ground to check the feasibility of the sport in a big sport event. The broadcasting rights for an Olympic event currently stands at INR 16.44 crores. The inclusion of T20 cricket in 2028 Los Angeles and 2032 Brisbane games could potentially increase the broadcasting rights to nearly 100 times to a huge INR 1587 crore.