Pickleball Misses Out on 2028 Olympic Games Despite Soaring Popularity
June 4, 2025 – Los Angeles, CA
Despite its explosive rise in popularity across the United States, pickleball will not be part of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, officials confirmed this week. The LA28 Organizing Committee finalized its list of additional sports for inclusion, naming baseball/softball, flag football, squash, lacrosse, and cricket—but omitting pickleball.
The decision comes as a disappointment to many advocates of the sport, which has seen a meteoric rise in participation numbers, television coverage, and celebrity endorsements over the past few years. Still, Olympic officials cited several critical reasons for the sport’s exclusion.
One major obstacle is pickleball’s limited international reach. While the game has taken off in North America—particularly among older adults and recreational athletes—it has yet to establish the global presence required by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for inclusion. The IOC mandates that a sport must be widely practiced by men in at least 75 countries and by women in 40 countries across four continents.
In addition, the sport lacks a unified international governing body. Multiple organizations, including the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP) and the World Pickleball Federation (WPF), continue to compete for dominance, creating a fractured landscape that complicates Olympic recognition.
“We’re disappointed but not discouraged,” said USA Pickleball CEO Mike Nealy. “The growth of the sport is undeniable, and we believe it’s only a matter of time before pickleball earns its place on the world’s biggest athletic stage.”
The sport’s advocates hope that by continuing to grow internationally and consolidating its leadership, pickleball may be considered for future Olympic Games beyond 2028.
For now, fans will have to settle for national and international competitions outside the Olympic spotlight—but momentum suggests this might not be the case forever.
