No softball in 2028 Olympics

[Eric F]

Sure..if you want a seating capacity of 100..

Do you know this from all your time at So Cal softball venues

 

[JayW]

DD watches every college softball game that is televised but had zero interest in the Tokyo Olympic softball games. She wanted to know why Hemphill and Alo weren’t playing.

 

[schwabach]

Sure..if you want a seating capacity of 100..

The UCLA facility might seat a few more.

 

[Bullseye]

Hogwash if California wanted to install a temporary softball field at the coliseum they would.

 

[_MIA_]

Do you know this from all your time at So Cal softball venues

You know a lot of youth facilities with big seating capacities?

 

[Eric F]

The UCLA facility might seat a few more.

A few others that first come to mind...
- Cal State Fullerton
- Bill Barber Park - Irvine
- Great Park - Irvine

Additional temporary seating would be easy to add to these venues, as well.

 

[Eric F]

You know a lot of youth facilities with big seating capacities?

You're out of your knowledge depth on this, my friend. So Cal is home to multiple D1 softball programs, plus has some very nice city-owned facilities. The reality is that Olympic softball isn't going to attract 10,000+ fans. Expanding the seating capacity of an existing facility isn't difficult.

 

[Shiloh]

One glaring difference in your post is, many of the sports you listed can be used by men and women at the same place. They don't need 2 pools for male and female waterpolo, for example. And I guess LA could've used the same field for softball/baseball as Japan did this year. Although that's an ugly look, but maybe they wouldn't care. I don't know.

Yes, exactly.

The same venue can be used for male and female competition in all of these sports, or, better yet, used by multiple sports:

turf field - soccer, rugby
pool - swimming, water polo, diving
indoor gym - basketball, volleyball, gymnastics

The other sports (shooting, rowing, fencing, beach volleyball) do not require expensive, dedicated facilities.
The only exception is cycling, which requires a velodrome, but obviously this could be used by both males and females.

Unfortunately, softball stadiums are only good for softball (particularly if they are designed for women's FP and not mens slow pitch), and baseball stadiums are, well, baseball stadiums.

We all saw the spectacle of softball played on a modified baseball field in Tokyo - it was awful.

I hate to say it, but it would not surprise me if baseball and softball were never in the Olympics again.

So much cheaper to host a skatepark, or rock climbing, BMX, or surfing, or break dancing.

 

[Shiloh]

Aren’t there hundreds of softball facilities in southern CA, especially considering that womens’ professional fields have the same basic dimensions as youth softball fields?

Yes there are.

But LA only hosts the Olympics once every 30-40 years.

Think of the other cities (Rio, Athens, London, Sydney, Paris in recent years) - how many women's FP and baseball stadiums to you think are in and around those cities?

 

[Hillhouse]

Part of the challenge with baseball facilities is that the Olympics overlaps with the regular season for pro baseball, so MLB and MiLB will be in use. Available existing facilities would be limited to college venues.

Very true. Although it's not uncommon for a team to take an extended road trip for things. I can all but guarantee the Angels and Dodgers will be out of LA when the Olympics happen, not so much for the use of stadiums but because they won't want to compete with anyone for fans. A lot of sport franchises have had extended road trips for one reason or another.

Side note, just from reading many comments here: I think a lot of people underestimate the growth of softball globally. Other countries are improving rapidly. While USA and Japan are still the top dogs in women's softball, other countries are improving a lot. Czech Republic for example hosted the 2019 Men's WBSC championship. While I realize that's men's softball not women's, it was the first time the WBSC (formerly ISF) had been put in Europe. That shows the growth of softball. And Czech boy's team finished 3rd in the most recent WBSC Jr Men's world championship. That is incredible how far they've come. Argentina won the men's world championship (same one in Czech 2019 I mentioned). They beat Japan for the gold. Again, I realize I'm speaking about men's softball but, these places have women's softball too and they are improving too. More foreign countries than ever are bringing in coaches from all over the world for training and learning. The point is, with softball growing and expanding annually it's not just an American thing anymore. There's more interest worldwide now than ever.