Cricket’s Olympic comeback is about far more than sport
When cricket returns to the Olympic Games at Los Angeles 2028, it will mark the end of a 128-year absence. Yet for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the sport’s inclusion represents far more than restoring a historic event to the programme.
According to a report by Reuters, Olympic leaders believe cricket offers a unique opportunity to accelerate audience growth, strengthen commercial revenues and deepen engagement in India, the sport’s largest and most influential market.
With an estimated global fan base exceeding two billion people, cricket brings a scale of audience few other sports can match. For the Olympic movement, which continues to pursue younger viewers and stronger commercial growth, the addition of cricket is expected to reshape how the Games connect with one of the world’s most valuable sports markets.
India sits at the centre of the commercial opportunity
The IOC believes cricket can help the Olympic Games reach audiences that have historically been difficult to engage.
Pierre Ducrey, IOC Sports Director, told Reuters: “It is very strong in markets where maybe you could say the Olympic Games today may not have penetrated as much as they have in other markets.”
He added: “Cricket will bring to the LA Games audiences that may not necessarily tune in regularly to watch the Olympic Games.”
Ducrey continued: “It’s a win-win compromise where we’ll give them more opportunities, and they will definitely strengthen our appeal in markets that are very strongly interested in cricket and sometimes mostly in cricket.”
The commercial impact is already becoming evident through discussions around media rights for the Indian subcontinent. Anne-Sophie Voumard, Managing Director of IOC Television and Marketing Services, has said the value of the LA28 rights package is expected to be a multiple of the agreement signed for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which was estimated at around US$30 million.
An IOC spokesperson also outlined the progress of those negotiations. The spokesperson told Reuters: “Regarding media rights for the LA28 Olympic Games in the Indian subcontinent, we are currently engaged in constructive discussions with a number of key players across the region.”
The spokesperson added: “We can confirm that there has been strong interest from the market, reflecting both the momentum behind the LA28 Olympic Games and the addition of cricket to the sports programme.”
The Olympic movement already has significant ties with India’s sports broadcasting landscape. JioStar, created through the merger of Reliance Industries’ and Disney’s Indian media businesses, holds rights to both the Olympic Games and the Indian Premier League (IPL), while IOC member Nita Ambani hosted the IOC Session in Mumbai in 2023.
T20 created cricket’s Olympic pathway
Although the IOC recognised the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2010, cricket’s traditional formats presented significant scheduling challenges for the Olympic programme.
The emergence of Twenty20 fundamentally changed that equation.
Its shorter duration, global participation and entertainment value aligned with Olympic reforms introduced in 2014, allowing host cities to propose additional sports. Los Angeles subsequently selected cricket for inclusion in 2028.
ICC Chief Executive Sanjog Gupta believes the format is uniquely suited to the Olympic environment.
Gupta told Reuters: “The jeopardy or the unpredictability that live sports benefit from is maximised in this format.”
He added: “Avenues of participation have been expanded significantly to really position this format as cricket’s handshake with the world.”
Gupta continued: “It’s global, more accessible and representative. T20 ticks all the right boxes.”
Unlike Test cricket, which is largely confined to the ICC’s Full Members, T20 has enabled significantly broader international participation, helping position the format as cricket’s primary vehicle for global expansion.
A two-decade alignment between the IOC and ICC
Cricket’s Olympic return is the culmination of a lengthy process that began with the sport’s provisional recognition by the IOC in 2007.
Ducrey acknowledged that aligning the priorities of the Olympic movement and cricket took years.
He said: “The interests of some of the federations, the interests of the Olympic movement at large, sometimes converge, sometimes they don’t.”
He added: “And it took some time for the interests of the International Cricket Council, of the sport of cricket at large, and those of the Olympic movement to align in a more significant way that led to the discussions around the 2028 program.”
Reflecting on the journey, Ducrey concluded: “So a long journey, but I would say one that was consistently getting our movements and our sports, and our interests closer and closer.”
Why the relationship could extend well beyond Los Angeles
The business case for cricket’s Olympic future extends beyond LA28.
The IPL has transformed cricket into one of the world’s most valuable sporting properties, with the competition valued at around US$20 billion and the 2026 season attracting approximately 1.2 billion viewers across platforms. Those commercial fundamentals have strengthened cricket’s appeal to Olympic organisers while also highlighting the scale of India’s influence within the global sports economy.
The long-term outlook also appears favourable. Brisbane, a major cricket nation, will host the 2032 Olympic Games, while India continues to pursue Ahmedabad’s bid for the 2036 Olympics.
Gupta believes cricket can play an increasingly important role in supporting the Olympic movement’s future ambitions.
He said: “As the Olympic movement looks to the future of its own significance and relevance of sport in various markets, cricket can potentially play a huge role in driving that forward.”
He added: “Cricket is the fastest growing large-scale team sport in the world. It’s a massive opportunity for the Olympic movement to ride on.”
With broadcasting negotiations gathering momentum, cricket’s commercial growth continuing through the IPL and future Olympic hosts deeply connected to the sport, Los Angeles 2028 increasingly appears to be the beginning of a longer-term partnership rather than a one-off Olympic return.
