Every Olympic cycle brings the same question: what guides the IOC’s choices for the Games? Paris 2024 featured 32 sports, including the debut of breaking, while baseball was left out. Los Angeles 2028 is set to expand to 36 events, promising more variety but also more debate. Not everyone is impressed with the direction, especially Barstool’s Dave Portnoy.

Portnoy, whose net worth is estimated at $250 million, didn’t hold back on his YouTube Barstool Sports channel. He mocked the committee and questioned how these decisions are made.

He said, “By the way, shame on the Olympics. The Olympics are so stupid. I’d like to find out who picks the sports for the Olympics. I’d like to drop them all, put an anchor on their ankle, and drop them in the middle of the ocean. How stupid do you have to be to be on the Olympic committee and you have some of the most ridiculous, dumbest, stupidest sports?”

Clearly, he’s frustrated. However, the question emerges: who decides which sports go to the Olympics?

It is the International Olympic Committee (IOC). They formally establish the regulations and sanction the final lineup. Any sport that is proposed to be considered is subject to having a recognized international federation, which satisfies global standards such as anti-doping rules and global participation. Upon identification, the federation submits a petition indicating that it qualifies.

Since 2014’s Olympic Agenda 2020, host cities also get a say they can propose up to six optional sports for their edition of the Games. The IOC reviews everything, and then the full IOC membership votes on the final program, which decides what actually appears at the Games.

As Portnoy added, “Who is that interpretive breakdancer from Australia? They’re testing them out. Yeah, Rega. And you don’t have baseball where you just list all those countries. They all play it. They’re all competitive.”

In case there’s any confusion: breaking is the competitive sport version of breakdancing, which officially debuted at Paris 2024. Well, the IOC approved it as an optional sport to attract younger fans. Baseball, however, was not included, despite its global popularity – one of the contrasts that has fueled criticism like Portnoy’s.

He further explained, “You’re going to have a whole ton of different countries that could theoretically win this thing. And they don’t want to put that sport in the Olympics. The Olympics, you know, the Olympic committee, those people are so, so awful. It’s tough to put into words, but maybe you don’t need it.”

“Originally, when Bryce Harper said that, I was like a hundred percent agree, but watching it, maybe you don’t. Maybe the World Baseball Classic sticks on its own.”

And yes, Bryce Harper has commented publicly on baseball and the Olympics. Just a few days back, he said about the Olympics compared with the World Baseball Classic:

“Obviously the WBC is great, but it’s not the Olympics. 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.”

Adding, “I’m hoping LA ’28 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. It’d be great for baseball.”

But the question remains: will baseball be part of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics? And many critics are already raising concerns about how the IOC decides which sports to include or exclude.

LA 2028 Olympics sports lineup sparks outrage, critics question IOC’s picks

Los Angeles 2028 is set to feature 36 sports, four more than Paris, including baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash. But it raised questions whether these additions were because of global competition or were driven by politics and tradition.

And this led several international Olympic sports federations to express concern! Even the umbrella group ASOIF said the expansion “has raised several questions” around fairness and the allocation of resources.

Antonio Espinos, president of the World Karate Federation, didn’t hold back. He criticized the IOC for failing to modernize the Olympic program, calling it “very bad news” for sports like karate that were left out despite their global popularity.

“It’s not as unexpected as it was for Paris 2024, but it’s still very bad news,” said Espinos. “I am very sorry for not being able to recover the Olympic status for karate… Myself and the team have been putting in the utmost efforts to get into LA 28 but we couldn’t do it.”

Espinos criticized the IOC, stating that it has seen very little change in the past two decades,” pointing out that weightlifting and modern pentathlon remain but boxing is only temporarily on hold and new optional sports like cricket were added by the IOC’s direction rather than through transparent selection.

“This proves once again that the IOC is unable to reform the Olympic program… There is a perception that the IOC does not need both taekwondo and karate…” Espinos said.

However, this entire debate on the issue of inclusion and exclusion of sports is not novel! In 2012, the decision to drop baseball and softball was met with international condemnation, especially in countries where the two sports are cultural delicacies.

Today, however, the critics claim that the method used by the IOC to choose the sports is rather vague and unequal, leaving athletes and fans confused. What’s your take on this? Share it with us in the comments below.