Softball and Baseball strike out for appearance in London Games
Shannon Pugh
Issue date: 10/28/05 Section: Sports
For those who are members of the same generation as me, athletes from around the world have competed in softball and baseball in the Summer Olympic Games. This has not always been the case nor will it be in the 2012 London Olympic Games, as decided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this past summer.
For any sport to achieve Olympic sport standing it must pass through the IOC by a two-thirds majority. Next, the sport must pass the IOC by a majority to be included for each subsequent Olympics with a 28 sport maximum. If a sport does not pass by a majority it will still retain Olympic Sport status and can still be placed on the agenda if the Committee does not already have 28 sports.
Baseball passed this rigorous screening process for the 1992 through the 2004 Games, and softball passed from the 1996 through the 2004 Games, but neither made the grade in the eye of the IOC for inclusion in 2012. Both sports recorded significant drops in the popularity from the 2000 Sydney Games to the 2004 Athens measured by the amount of spectators in attendance at each contest. These drops were due in large part to the lack of interest in the country (Greece) that the Games took place. Neither sport thrives in Athens; only because Athens was the host city did they achieve one of the eight spots for both softball and baseball thus not providing an accurate account of the view of the sports throughout the whole world.
On the other hand, the 2008 Beijing Games will be a prime locale for evaluation of the popularity of softball and baseball. Asian countries tend to produce high-quality teams making runs for the gold in both sports, thus drawing in fans within close proximity to the venues to see the contests first hand. However, due to the fact that the vote for inclusion took place before the Beijing games, baseball and softball did not get to showcase their popularity on the world stage in a desirable location.
Most sports have venues in which attendance is high one Olympiad and low the next, but since they have been around so long the IOC is willing to ride out the bad with the good following right behind. The short history of both sports prevented such a luxury of that kind of reputation. Baseball and softball will be the only 2 out of 28 sports present in the 2004 Athens Games no to be features in the 2012 London Games, but there is still hope that a positive showing in 2008 will warrant a return in 2016.