'Ultimate win-win': Global impact brings Olympics, cricket back together again
Marcus Rebelo | CBC Sports | Posted: Friday, October 20th, 2023 8:00 AM | Last Updated: 3 hours ago
World's 2nd most popular sport to be featured at 2028 Los Angeles Games
After more than a century and now with an estimated 2.5 billion fans worldwide — cricket is returning to the Olympics.
With its dynamic, faster-paced T20 format, the world's second most popular sport was added to the 2028 Los Angeles Games program by the International Olympic Committee on Monday along with lacrosse, baseball-softball, flag football and squash.
"Having cricket in the Olympics means an interaction of a global audience," Canadian men's cricket team captain Saad Bin Zafar told CBC Sports. "Cricket has a huge fan following outside North America. [The] Olympics has a huge fan following across the world and [it's now] an interaction of two different fan bases merging into one.
"I believe the Olympics will gain a lot from it and I believe cricket will gain a lot from it."
The decision regarding cricket's inclusion to the Olympics for the first time since 1900 — the sport's only appearance at a Games — was confirmed by the IOC's full membership at a meeting in Mumbai, India.
"We're looking forward to working with Cricket Canada," said Canadian Olympic Committee CEO and secretary general David Shoemaker. "It's a sport that's very much played by and embraced by new Canadians. The more we can make Team Canada look like Canada, that's really important to me personally and to us as an organization."
According to Statistics Canada, 500,000 immigrants arrived in the country between 2015-2020 from countries where cricket is the national sport or has national representation.
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At a previous meeting ahead of the IOC vote on Monday, Los Angeles 2028 sports director Niccolo Campriani revealed that cricket was "an easy one to pitch" to the Olympic body.
"Think [about] my friend here Virat [Kohli]. He's the third-most followed athlete in the world on social media with 340 million followers. That's more than LeBron James, Tom Brady and Tiger Woods combined. This is the ultimate win-win," Campriani said.
Kohli is currently competing for hosts India at the One Day International Men's Cricket World Cup — one of the most watched sporting events in the world and the flagship contest for the sport. The International Cricket Council (ICC) figures show live coverage of the 2019 tournament reached a global cumulative average audience of 1.6 billion viewers.
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According to The Associated Press, India — the world's most populous country — is now expected to increase the value of its broadcasting rights for the Olympic body by more than $100 million US.
For 2022-24, Indian media company Viacom18 had purchased the rights for $31 million US, according to The Economic Times.
Boundaries North CEO Rahul Srinivasan believes ICC associate members like Canada, and specifically women's cricket, will also profit from the sport's Olympic inclusion.
Canadian sports investment group WEIC Sports United (formerly Teams Canada) launched the Boundaries North initiative in April, forming a strategic alliance with Cricket Canada which aims to drive growth for the sport in the country.
Benefiting the women's game
"Globally, the biggest winners out of this announcement are what we call associate nation countries," Srinivasan said. "Those who are on the verge of breaking into the top 10 — top 15 of [ICC full member] core cricketing nations can now make the case to their governments that cricket should be viewed in the same way as other sports that are competing in the Olympics."
Canada, along with the U.S. (2019) and the Netherlands (1966), has been an associate member in the ICC's two-tier hierarchy since 1968.
"The women's game really stands to benefit," the Canadian sports business executive added. "In 2022, the Commonwealth Games included women's cricket and it was a massive success. [It] really raised the popularity of the Games [and] really showed the world the talent of the women's game.
"I would expect a similar effect now with the Olympics in terms of creating popularity — inspiring young women across the world to play cricket."
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Cricket is expected to be a six-team event for both women and men at LA28. According to the IOC, the qualification process will be announced at a later date.
"Now the biggest event that cricket has is [a] World Cup," said Canadian women's national team all-rounder Rhea Misra. "[The Olympics is] the absolute pinnacle."
Misra represented Canada at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier in September.
"On our team, we have three young youngsters, including myself ... We're always talking about [T20] franchise leagues but now with the Olympics coming it gives us another opportunity to play alongside such big names."
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Why in L.A.?
With the 2028 Los Angeles Games set to welcome cricket back to the Olympics, its sports director highlighted key factors that influenced the decision.
"The commitment to grow cricket in the U.S. is real, and it's already happening with the launch of the very first Major League Cricket season earlier this year, which exceeded all expectations. And the [men's] T20 World Cup in 2024 coming to U.S. and West Indies," said Campriani, who won three Olympic gold medals in sport shooting for Italy.
Canada clinched its first-ever berth to the men's T20 World Cup earlier in October with a 39-run victory over Bermuda at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier.
"I think the growth of cricket itself [in Canada] in the next three or four years will showcase the importance of [that] game and the year that we had," said Cricket Canada president Rashpal Bajwa.
"The guys showed their character."
As the Canadian men's cricket team begins preparation for their T20 World Cup debut next year, which could be the start of an Olympic qualification process, Bajwa believes the sport's inclusion at LA28 has inspired the game's global stars.
"I think all these players like [Australian] Steve Smith and Virat Kohli are really excited to become a part of the Olympics because they want to be standing on the podium with a medal around their neck — it's the pride that you get.
"The whole world [of cricket] is excited about joining the Olympic movement."