Squash in Olympics LA 2028 - Will It Really Make a Difference for the Sports?
Squash will FINALLY be in the 2028 LA Olympics! To many sports fans in the world, this will probably just be another piece of news for their daily readings. However, for the squash world, it is massive because they have been fighting for this cause for many years. Years after years, they had been disappointed after it was announced that squash was not going to be in the Olympics. Squash legend such as Nicol David will never get to grace the Olympics stage but she will just be as pleased with the introduction of squash in the Olympics as current stars such as Ali Faraq, Ng Eain Yow, Nour El-Shirbini and Sivasangari.
Will the inclusion of squash in the Olympics really help to propel the sports to greater heights? Well, most probably so. For one, the government, especially the one in "squash countries" such as the United Kingdom, Egypt and Malaysia, will allocate more budgets for the sports. Athletes' allocation such as training expenditure, travelling expenses, salaries, and other allowances will most likely be increased. Athletes who used to train locally, might also get the chance to finally train overseas one day.
Secondly, the mass will also be paying more attention to the sports from now on, especially those in the "squash countries." There is hope that their countries might finally be bringing home that elusive first gold medal in the Olympics. While surfing through the tv channels, they might just stop for a glance at squash matches or pay more attention to squash news. This newfound popularity will hopefully enhance the status of squash in the eyes of the public. Not only that, but we might also see an increase in the number of squash facilities being built around the world. In the past, many squash courts have been sacrificed for other sports such as table tennis and snookers. Now that squash will be in the Olympics, hopefullt this trend can be reversed
In addition, advertisers will also invest more money in the sports. Due to worldwide exposure, especially during the Olympics itself, more key players in the corporate world will target squash consumers. This involves not only manufacturers of squash products, but also FMCG companies, Banks and Financial establishment as well as Telecommunication companies; just to name a few. No doubt squash will be a new sports to most of them, but no one wants to miss out a piece of the pie, will they? And, in many countries, squash is still considered a middle to upper class sports. This audience is considered very valuable to many advertisers of branded products.