Baseball has been removed from the Olympics for several reasons:

1. Lack of global accessibility

Although baseball is popular in the United States, Japan, South Korea, Cuba and other countries, the popularity rate in Europe, Africa and most developing countries is low. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) prefers to keep projects with broad participation.

When the IOC voted in 2005, baseball and softball became the first Olympic sports to be excluded since 1936. At that time, the IOC considered baseball to be highly professional but not globalized, with only about 20 countries having a high level of competitiveness.

2. Top professional players are absent

Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons clash with the Olympics, preventing top players, such as MLB stars, from playing, and making the game less enjoyable. In contrast, sports such as basketball and soccer allow professional athletes to compete.

3. Olympic Reform and Commercialization Considerations

In order to attract younger audiences, the IOC tends to introduce new sports (e.g. skateboarding, surfing) and control the size of the Olympics. Baseball suffers due to ratings, commercial value, and other popular items.

Olympic baseball rules, such as age limits, also limit the participation of professional players, further eroding attention.

4. Brief regression and re-exit

Baseball returned as a host recommended sport at Tokyo 2020, but it will not be retained at Paris 2024 because the above issues have not been fundamentally resolved. However, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are planned to bring baseball (and softball) back to life, possibly with the help of high popularity in the United States.

Background supplements

Timeline: Baseball became an official Olympic sport in 1992, withdrew after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and briefly returned to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Collateral effects of softball: Softball was eliminated during the same period due to its strong association with baseball, but in recent years there has been a greater call for its return due to its high female participation.

The "Olympic destiny" of baseball is constrained by the lack of globalization, the contradiction of professionalism and the adjustment of the Olympic strategy, and whether it can return stably in the future still needs to be observed in the progress of its popularization.