The Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games confirmed today Softball Park in Oklahoma City, OK as the competition venue for the LA28 softball competition, an iconic stadium for softball's sixth appearance at the Olympic Games.
"We're thrilled with the announcement of Softball Park in Oklahoma as the venue for LA28, it's the perfect stage for the best softball athletes in the world to realise their Olympic dream," said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. "The cutting edge stadium, arguably one of the best softball stadiums in the world, will give us and LA28 the opportunity to spread the passion for Olympic softball in the US and around the world, while using an existing facility for the Games, in alignment with the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020+5 recommendations, which emphasises sustainability by encouraging the use of existing stadiums beyond the region of the host city."
With a capacity of 13,000 spectators, the stadium hosted the U-18 Women's Softball World Cup 2015 and later this year will stage the WBSC Men's Softball World Cup Group C. It's also the house of the NCAA Women's Softball World Series, which annually draws over 190,000 people from outside Oklahoma to enjoy softball.
Located in the Adventure District in Oklahoma City, OK, since 1987, the venue recently received a $27.5 million facelift with an added upper deck that increased capacity by 4,000 seats, a three-story press box as well as upgraded ticket windows and complex entrances.
In 2028, USA will become the first nation to host an Olympic softball competition twice, after the sport's historic debut in the Olympics in Atlanta 1996. This will be softball's sixth appearance in the Olympic Games programme, having also featured at Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and Tokyo 2020, where softball opened the Olympic Games sports programme with an historic game between Japan and Australia in Fukushima.
