Forty-four years after hosting Olympic baseball, Chavez Ravine will do so again.
Dodger Stadium has been selected as a site for the 2028 Summer Olympics, which are to be held primarily in Los Angeles. The park was previously used as the site for exhibitions in the 1984 games, but this time, baseball has been restored to its status as a main event.
The Dodgers and the Games’ Planning Committee made the announcement on Tuesday.
“Dodger Stadium in Downtown Los Angeles is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium on the West Coast,” the Games’ site says. “Known for its panoramic views of the LA skyline and long-standing sports legacy, the stadium will be a centerpiece of Olympic action.”
Olympic baseball was a medal sport from 1992-2008 as well as in 2021 during the rescheduled Tokyo Games. In the interim, it’s been offset by the World Baseball Classic – a tournament-style event currently held every third year in March, with some qualifying games taking place in the year prior.
Dodger Stadium hosted World Baseball Classic Games in 2009 and 2017, including the USA’s championship in the more recent case.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
The 2023 WBC peaked at over 6.5 million viewers and ended with current Dodger Shohei Ohtani striking out his then-teammate Mike Trout, giving Japan the proverbial gold over Team USA. With baseball’s growing international popularity, it could once again become a permanent fixture – and there’s arguably no better stage to prove why it should than this one.
Not only is Dodger Stadium a historic venue, being the third-oldest active venue in Major League Baseball, but it is also the largest, with a capacity of 56,000. The park underwent renovations prior to the 2021 season which connected an expanded outfield plaza to the rest of the seating bowl, and more work was done this past offseason to enhance the clubhouses and other player facilities.
The 2032 Brisbane Games in Australia are already considering having baseball, and a good showing here could help convince them to do so.
The ’28 Olympics will kick off July 14 at the Dodgers’ first home in California – the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which is still used by the USC Trojans football team. That facility will become the first to host the Opening Ceremonies in three separate Games.
