Despite the growing popularity of the World Baseball Classic, Bryce Harper believes the Summer Olympics sit on a much higher pedestal than the tournament, which got underway on Wednesday. According to the Phillies star, major leaguers should be given the chance to compete in the 2028 Olympics. He recently shared his thoughts in an interview, where he spoke openly about his passion for international competition.

“Obviously, the WBC is great, but it’s not the Olympics,” Bryce Harper said. “That’s no disrespect to the WBC or anything. But everybody knows when the Olympics are on, everybody is watching. It doesn’t matter what sport it is. It could be the most random sport, and it has all of the fans watching it.”

As per Harper, while the WBC is currently the best global event for baseball, major leaguers participating in LA28 is what matters the most.

“So, I’m hoping L.A. 2028 happens; I’m hoping in the next CBA something can happen where teams and players can agree on taking that two-week break, especially if it’s in our home country,” Harper added. “It’d be great for baseball. You talk about growing the game? Being able to grow it at the highest level would help out tremendously.”

When you talk about global reach, influence, and sheer spectacle, the Summer Olympics sit on a different level compared to most individual sporting events, including the WBC. Still, within the MLB community, opinions are split.

And a big reason for that divide is the way MLB fandom works.

Most fans are deeply tied to their 30 franchises, and many have been rallying behind Team USA in the WBC. So when Harper suggested that the 2028 LA Olympics should take priority, it felt like a bit of a culture shock to some of them.

Now, for the unversed, baseball’s Olympic history has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Reportedly, baseball became an official Olympic sport in 1992 and stayed on the program until 2008.

But Major League players were never allowed to participate. The sport was then dropped for the 2012 and 2016 Games before making a brief return at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, again without active MLB players.

That’s why Harper’s point resonates with some fans. If MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is serious about expanding baseball’s global footprint, the Olympics could be the perfect stage. Few events offer the kind of worldwide attention that the Summer Games do. Reportedly, the 2024 Paris Olympics garnered around 5 billion viewers, while the 2023 WBC averaged around 32 million fans.

Yet, not everyone is convinced.

While plenty of fans see the value in pushing for Olympic participation at LA 2028, others feel Harper downplayed the importance and momentum the WBC has built over the years. For them, the tournament has already become a major international showcase for the sport. And it deserves just as much respect.

Fans are divided over Bryce Harper’s statement

A few fans agree with Harper’s “WBC is not the Olympics” jibe. “He’s right. The WBC is nothing more than glorified spring training games,” one fan said. “He isn’t wrong. The WBC is fun, but it doesn’t come close to the prestige and aura of the Olympics,” another added.

Remember how a few marquee players are missing this WBC? Take Cody Bellinger, Roki Sasaki, or Francisco Lindor; some missed the event due to injuries, while others voluntarily moved away to focus on MLB.

This only proves how much the major leaguers prefer the WBC. Yes, there are exceptions, like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who took a public jibe at players missing the WBC, but it is common for the WBC to be held without much star power.

Hence, for the fans, Bryce Harper is right that the Olympics are far ahead in terms of aura compared to the WBC. And it’s just a spring season with better packaging!

But surely, not everyone is on the same page. “Baseball isn’t even a permanent sport at the Olympics, so there’s no way the Olympics are bigger than the WBC,” one user countered. “I don’t watch the Olympics, and I watch WBC?” another added.

Yes, baseball is yet to be in the Olympics permanently. And that’s one reason for baseball fans not to get entirely attracted to it. However, according to Harper, the Summer Olympics as a whole are the biggest sporting event on Earth. But when it comes to specific baseball fanbases, the WBC stands ahead. Surely, the WBC is the USA, and Japan might actually give the Olympics a run for its money when only baseball is concerned.

“It’s no disrespect, Brother; you LITERALLY disrespected the WBC,” another user remarked. Well, we know what baseball means to the purists. So, despite Bryce Harper justifying how the Olympics are bigger than the WBC, he might just have opened another window of debate going ahead.