WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari: More exciting times ahead for baseball/softball following LA28 inclusion

Monday was a momentous day for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) following baseball and softball’s confirmation on the sport programme for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

The news means baseball will be played as part of the main programme for the seventh time and softball for the sixth. It means our athletes can now dream about representing their countries at an Olympic Games again. And it means that we can further build on the huge success of baseball and softball at Tokyo 2020.

We are already eagerly anticipating our sports’ return to the Olympic stage, where passionate fans will fill the stands, roaring in support of their heroes. And everyone involved in our sport is celebrating this success.

Together with the LA28 Organizing Committee, we have a great vision for baseball and softball at the LA28 Games and whilst we still have plenty to work through and finalise, I’m sure baseball and softball is going to be a huge hit.

The end product will be the result of much hard work, collaboration and dialogue with all our stakeholders. The cooperation already with all the major professional leagues has been crucial and together, we’re looking forward to baseball and softball being a great success at LA28.

The support from our continental associations and our member federations has also been important, especially with our new projects such as Baseball5, eSport and parasport, which are helping our game reach new territories, become a sport for all and increasingly popular worldwide.

Not only will the Olympic Games showcase our sport to a new audience and inspire a new generation of players, being on the programme also means that the WBSC members will receive funding through their National Olympic Committees. This will have a positive impact on the further development and growth of our sport with our National Federations able to strengthen their NOC relationships and explore new player participation opportunities.

The WBSC is also a founding member of the Olympic Esports Series, so our members will have the opportunity to participate in each edition of the OES and potentially in the Olympic Esports Games in the future.

All of this underlines how bright the future of our sport is. As we continue to meet many of the targets set in the WBSC Strategic Plan 2022-2028, baseball/softball continues to evolve and engage, providing more opportunities for more people of all ages to participate and stay active.

Let us not forget that in three years’ time, our urban, dynamic and accessible discipline of Baseball5 will feature at the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026. This further emphasises the opportunities ahead over the coming years and will give a new set of baseball and softball stars a chance of realising their Olympic dream.

We saw last week at the WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup the fun, energy and excitement our mixed-gender discipline brings to the participants and the fans and I can’t wait to see this happening again on the Olympic stage.

Of course, we will continue to inspire our athletes and fans to participate in all our sports as we further enhance and grow our disciplines. Our flagship tournament, the Premier12, will be a key part of this when it takes place next year.

The work that we do in this area will go hand-in-hand with, and complement, our continued efforts to achieve our ultimate objective, which is to have baseball and softball as permanent fixtures on the Olympic programme.

The decision in Mumbai to approve our inclusion in Los Angeles has only enhanced our desire to meet this goal. The next step will be ensuring that baseball and softball is included on the programme for the Olympic Games Brisbane 2032.

None of this will distract the WBSC from our continued work across the globe on all areas of baseball and softball but this is definitely an exciting time to be involved in our sport.