Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper believes the 2028 Olympics would provide baseball with a greater platform than the World Baseball Classic.
The Summer Games are scheduled to take place in Los Angeles in 2028, and Major League Baseball and the Players Association are in discussions regarding sending big leaguers to the international tournament.
“Obviously, the WBC is great, but it’s not the Olympics,” Harper said. “That’s no disrespect to the WBC or anything. But everybody knows when the Olympics are on, everybody is watching. Doesn’t matter what sport it is. It could be the most random sport and it has all of the fans watching it. I hope L.A. ’28 happens.”
Manfred Optimistic About Player Participation
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred believes that MLB players will participate in the 2028 Olympics.
“We’re a lot closer to there than we were the last time we talked about it,” Manfred said last month after the league’s owners meetings. “There’s some issues with the MLBPA that we just need to resolve. I sense a lot of momentum towards playing in L.A. in 2028. I think we’re going to get over those issues. I think people have come to appreciate that the Olympics on U.S. soil is a unique marketing opportunity for the game.
“We got a lot of players interested in doing it, and I feel pretty good about the idea we’ll get there.”
Bruce Meyer, the head of the players’ union, confirmed that active discussions are underway.
Scheduling and Insurance Challenges
Scheduling is a key issue for the league and union to address. MLB aims to incorporate the All-Star Game and the Olympics into the same summer break, extending the usual downtime the league has mid-season.
The league and the players can likely accommodate the Olympics without rescheduling the All-Star Game’s typical Tuesday date, as rescheduling it would affect Fox, which televises the game.
The league office believes that playing the All-Star Game on the West Coast in 2028 would make the most sense geographically. San Francisco is reportedly a front-runner to host, but a formal bidding process has to unfold before a host is finalised.
MLB players require insurance to participate in the WBC, and this would likely be the case for the Olympics. MLB teams will want protection for their investments, and players won’t wager their salaries to participate.
Insurance brought concerns to the WBC, where star players were turned away because the policy wouldn’t cover them.
MLB players need insurance to play in the WBC, and that would almost certainly be the case during the Olympics as well.
MLB teams will want protection for their investments, and players won’t wager their salaries to participate.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said there are issues with the MLBPA that need to be resolved.
Harper in WBC Play
Bryce Harper went 1-for-5 with a walk in Friday’s 15-5 win for Team USA against Team Brazil in World Baseball Classic pool play.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred believes an agreement will be reached, with many players interested in participating.