The announcement was made by Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who explained that the choice is in line with American sporting culture and will showcase iconic American sports to the world, while bringing international sports to the United States.

Although the Olympics are a tradition in its modern era, that does not mean that the list of sports in its programme is always the same. 

In Paris 2024 we have seen new disciplines such as breaking and kayak cross, 3x3 basketball, surfing, skateboarding; and climbing repeated after arriving at Tokyo 2020 and will be in Los Angeles. Boxing was supposed an integral part of the Los Angeles Games, but now its future is far from certain as the IOC feuds with the International Boxing Association. To make matters worse, their relationship has been further damaged after the gender eligibility controversy involving Imane Khelif in Paris 2024. 

Baseball/softball was in Tokyo, but was not repeated in Paris. In 2028, spectators around the world will be able to see the return of four historic disciplines that had been sidelined: baseball, cricket and lacrosse. Two others have Olympic statusf or the first time: flag-football (a non-contact form of American football) and squash.

Cricket has not been Olympic since the Paris 1900 Olympics and lacrosse since London. Now it will be revived in a six-team tournament to be played throughout the Games, and these matches are expected to be played in New York, which has gained valuable experience from hosting part of this year's T20 World Cup. Cricket has a lot of followers in Asia.

Flag football is a form of American football, in which instead of hitting the opponent and tackling him to the ground to finish the play, the player must remove a flag of at least 38cm long that is attached to the waist. But the objective is the same: to run or pass the ball into the opponent's end zone. Flag football is derived from American football or tackle football, but there are a number of rules that vary.