The New Sports at LA 2028, Explained

Flag football, cricket, lacrosse, squash and the return of baseball/softball — what they are and why they’re in.

Torch Editorial · 7 min read · Updated July 2026

LA28’s additions aren’t random — each was chosen to bring a large, engaged audience the Olympics don’t currently reach. Here’s the quick orientation on each.

Flag football

[Full guide: Flag Football at the Olympics](/guides/flag-football-at-la28). The non-contact cousin of American football, flag football swaps tackling for pulling a flag from a ball-carrier’s belt. It’s fast, high-scoring, played on a smaller field with five-a-side teams, and already popular worldwide as an accessible way into the sport. Its Olympic debut leans on the enormous global following of the NFL.

Cricket

[Full guide: Cricket at the Olympics](/guides/cricket-at-the-olympics-t20) — and [how the six teams qualify](/guides/olympic-cricket-qualification). Cricket returns to the Olympics for the first time since 1900, in its shortest, punchiest format: T20. Two teams of eleven, each batting a single innings of 20 overs (120 legal deliveries), in a game that fits in roughly three hours. With over a billion fans concentrated in South Asia and the Commonwealth, cricket may be LA28’s single biggest audience play. (New to it? See our T20 explainer.)

Lacrosse

[Full guide: Olympic Lacrosse and the Sixes format](/guides/olympic-lacrosse-sixes). One of North America’s oldest sports returns in the modern “Sixes” format — six-a-side, smaller field, shot clock, fast substitutions — designed to be quicker and more TV-friendly than the traditional field game.

Squash

[Full guide: Olympic Squash, explained](/guides/olympic-squash-explained). After years of near-misses, squash finally joins the program. Two players, an enclosed four-walled court, and relentless rallies — a sport long considered one of the most physically demanding on earth, making its Olympic debut in front of a global audience for the first time.

Baseball and softball return

[Full guide: Baseball and Softball at LA28](/guides/olympic-baseball-and-softball). Baseball (men) and softball (women) come back after appearing on-and-off in recent Games. Both are natural fits for a US-hosted Olympics, with baseball at Dodger Stadium a marquee-venue highlight.

Together these five give LA28 a distinctly American flavor while reaching audiences — cricket’s especially — that the Olympics have historically struggled to engage.