2025 Year in Review: Olympic excitement builds for Baseball, Softball and Baseball5
With the confirmation in 2023 of baseball and softball on the sports programme of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, 2025 marked a milestone year filled with key announcements surrounding the historic return of the two World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) disciplines to the Olympic stage. Baseball5 is also approaching a momentous occasion, with less than one year to go before the WBSC’s urban discipline makes its Olympic debut at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
Equal team numbers for Baseball & Softball at LA28
The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee approved in April the event programme and athlete quota for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028. For the first time in Olympic history, all team sports will have at least the same number of women’s teams as men’s teams, with baseball and softball featuring six squads each.
Baseball and softball will feature a combined total of 234 athletes at the LA28 Olympic Games — 144 in baseball (24 players per team) and 90 in softball (15 players per team). This mirrors the number of teams and athletes that participated in the sport’s most recent Olympic appearance at Tokyo 2020.
With the team quotas for the LA28 Olympic Games now officially confirmed, the WBSC is in the process of establishing, with the International Olympic Committee, the qualification systems for both baseball and softball. As the host nation, USA have secured automatic qualification in both disciplines.
Dodger Stadium named Official Venue for LA28 Olympic Baseball
The Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (LA28) announced that Dodger Stadium will be the official venue for baseball at the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics.
Dodger Stadium has played host to many of baseball’s biggest moments in the United States, including the Olympic Games in 1984 when baseball was a demonstration sport, and has been the host site of 11 World Series and the final rounds of the 2017 World Baseball Classic in which the hosts USA claimed gold.
WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari commented: “We are thrilled to return to Dodger Stadium for the Olympic Games. This iconic venue is the perfect stage to showcase the very best of our sport to millions of fans around the world. When the world’s top international baseball teams take to the field in 2028, the atmosphere will be even more electric than in 1984."
Softball Park in Oklahoma City to host LA28 Olympic Softball
In March, the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 officially confirmed Softball Park, in Oklahoma City, as the official competition venue for the LA28 softball competition.
With a capacity of 13,000 spectators, Softball Park hosted the WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup 2015, the WBSC Men's Softball World Cup Group C 2024 and the the WBSC U-18 Women's Softball World Cup Finals in 2025.
"The WBSC is thrilled to receive the confirmation of Softball Park as the competition venue for softball in the next Olympics," said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. "With no hesitation I can say that Softball Park is one of the best softball venues in the world and will offer athletes, coaches and fans the ultimate Olympic experience."
Baseball and softball competition schedules confirmed for LA28 Olympic Games
This year, the LA28 Organising Committee announced the competition format and schedule for baseball and softball.
The LA28 baseball competition at Dodger Stadium will begin on Thursday, 13 July, 2028, the day before the Games' Opening Ceremony. It will then pause one day on 14 July for the Opening Ceremony and resume on 15 July, running through to 19 July.
The breakdown of the tournament sees the Group Stage of the Baseball tournament take place from 13 July to 16 July followed by the Knockout Stage - consisting of Quarterfinals (Monday, July 17), Semifinals (Tuesday, July 18), and Medal Games (Wednesday, July 19) at 11:00 and 19:00 (LA Time).
The softball tournament will begin on Sunday, 23 July, at Devon Park in Oklahoma City with the Group Stage, consisting of a single six-team group, running through to Thursday, 27 July.
The softball finals will feature as part of Super Saturday on 29 July (Day 15), which is set to be the single most action-packed day of the LA28 Games with 26 finals sessions across 23 sports.
Tickets for Baseball/Softball at LA28 Olympics to go on sale in 2026
The LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games announced, earlier this week, details for its Official LA28 Ticketing and Hospitality Programmes, setting the stage for fans around the world to take part in the once-in-a-generation celebration in Los Angeles in 2028.
Registration for Olympic Games tickets will begin in January 2026 on la28.org.
One year to go: Baseball5’s Youth Olympic Games debut at Dakar 2026
Baseball5 also passed a historic milestone on 31 October, passing the one-year-to-go mark for its historic Olympic debut in the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics.
The five-on-five version of Baseball/Softball will be part of the official sports programme at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympic event to be held in Africa. Its inclusion reflects the WBSC’s continued efforts to make Baseball/Softball more accessible, inclusive and relevant to youth around the world.
A new era in the Olympic Movement
The Olympic Movement lived a historic milestone in March with the election of Kirsty Coventry as the new President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The South African became the 10th IOC President and the first female to reach the highest position in the sports world.
A two-time Olympic gold medallist for Zimbabwe in swimming, IOC Executive Board Member and former Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, Coventry was elected in the first round of voting at the 144th IOC Session in Greece.
“On behalf of myself and the WBSC, I want to congratulate President-elect Kirsty Coventry on her election as the next IOC President," said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. "The WBSC enjoys a strong and prosperous relationship with the IOC, and I look forward to continuing that close collaboration under Ms Coventry’s leadership."