Countdown to IOC Vote:
International sports broadcast leader highlights growing global interest
![]() Baseball and Softball will bring a new, exciting and unique bat-and-ball category of sport and athletes currently not part in the Olympic Games Programme. There are no similar sports to Baseball/Softball in the Olympics; thus, our sport will diversify, balance and enhance the overall Olympic sports experience for athletes, fans, sponsors, broadcasters, viewers and host cities and countries.
New Sustainable Sports Model Baseball and softball will present shorter, higher impact six-day Olympic sports tournaments in the same compact venue to reduce costs and logistical demands on Olympic host cities and organising committees. If included at the 2020 Games, Baseball/Softball will set a historic precedent, establishing women's softball and men's baseball as equal partners in an Olympic sport for the first time. Observing women softballers performing at the Games will inspire and leave a profound impression on future generations of girls and boys, which will help use sport as a tool to tear down social barriers and challenge stereotypes of gender inequality.
Athletes who typically compete against each other in clubs during regular competitions will unite on the world's biggest stage at the Olympic Games to represent their National Team, which is the highest honour for any athlete and a unique spectacle of solidarity. This will maintain the high level of international spirit, respect and friendship that defines the Olympic Games.
With 65+ million athletes at all levels in 140+ countries and 150+ million fans filling venues worldwide in 2012, driving record ticket sales and revenues, Baseball and Softball are among the most popular sports in the world (across both genders) and the most followed not under the Olympic umbrella.
drive those who play or follow our games to also follow and support the Olympic Games, attracting a new generation of athletes, more young people, cultures, audiences, followers and sponsor interest to the Olympic Movement.
Adding Baseball/Softball will deliver a sport that continues to connect with millions of young people everywhere and with today's youth culture.
Baseball is the only sport in the world to stage a U12 world championship. Including Baseball/Softball at the 2020 Games and an eventual Youth Olympic Games, will drive one of the largest youth bases in sport, and connect the Olympic Movement to millions of young people everywhere, inspiring and transferring Olympic ideals and knowledge to them at key developmental stages in their lives, and to progress the Games and society well into the future.
WBSC's vision is to work with the IOC members, and with all the Olympic sports federations, to help empower youth and provide more opportunities for young people, especially girls and women, to be included in sport across all levels and in the Olympic Games.
played and taught almost anywhere because there are no social, gender or economic barriers.
New Growth, Resources and Investment to 2020 and beyond The WBSC will help to deliver greater security and long-term viability to the Olympic Movement, if baseball and softball are included at the 2020 Olympic Games. National team competitions are growing in universality and attraction across all media platforms and with sponsors, broadcasters, fans and hosts.
Golden Era, which is based on the growing popularity and commercial power of baseball and softball, and the excitement and capacity of the bat-and-ball sports to fill stadiums around the world; provide an electrifying fan experience and spectacle for broadcasters and viewers; generate strong ticket sales and revenues, television audiences and international sponsors; to connect with young people, and provide new pathways for women and girls into sport, especially through softball in Muslim countries.
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