Bryce Harper wants MLB Players at the 2028 Olympics and he’s completely right

Bryce Harper is not waiting for the World Baseball Classic to end before pushing the next conversation forward. He spoke with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale on Friday and made his position clear that he wants MLB players at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Bryce Harper on MLB Players at the 2028 Olympics

“I hope LA ’28 happens. I’m hoping the next CBA agreement can happen where teams and players can come to an agreement on taking that two-week break, especially it being in our home country. It would be great for baseball. You talk about growing the game and being able to grow it at that, at the highest level would help out tremendously.”

Harper also put the WBC in its proper place relative to the Olympics, with respect but with honesty.

“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.”

Bryce Harper is right and the history of baseball in the Olympics makes the argument even more frustrating. Baseball became an official Olympic sport in 1992 and remained one through 2008, but major league players were never allowed to participate during that entire run.

The sport was removed from the program entirely in 2012 and 2016, returned for the Tokyo Games in 2021 with current MLB players still excluded, and was removed again when the Olympics went to Paris in 2024.

Baseball has been in and out of the Olympics for over thirty years and the best players in the world have never once been on the field for it.

The 2028 Games in Los Angeles represent the most obvious opportunity to change that and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred signaled last month that momentum is building.

Rob Manfred on the 2028 Olympics

“I think that we’re a lot closer to it than the last time we talked about it,” Manfred said during the Winter Olympics. “I sense a lot of momentum towards playing in L.A. in 2028. I think people have come to appreciate that the Olympics on U.S. soil is a unique marketing opportunity for the game.” – NY POST

The remaining obstacle is resolving outstanding issues with the MLBPA, which will be addressed in the next CBA negotiation. Manfred said he feels good about getting there.

Bryce Harper is publicly pushing for it from the player side. The Games are on home soil in a baseball market so obviously, the timing has never been better.

Baseball with the best players in the world at the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028 would be one of the most watched sporting events of the decade. The sport has been chasing its own tail on this for thirty years. Time to get it right.

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