The end of the road is near. The Games are (almost) done. As announced and planned, the Olympic Games committee of the Los Angeles city council gave the green light, Friday August 4, to the new Olympic candidacy of the Californian city, now stamped 2028. Local elected officials supported the 2024 file. as one man behind the 2028 project. Eric Garcetti can keep smiling.
The meeting of the JO committee of the municipal council was shaping up to be a formality. She didn't surprise anyone. Eric Garcetti, the mayor of L.A., and Casey Wasserman, the chairman of the bid, have emphatically emphasized the financial advantages of waiting for one more Olympics before bringing the Summer Games to the United States. An increased contribution from the IOC, increased to 2 billion dollars, compared to 1,7 billion for the Games in 2024. An advance from the IOC of 180 million dollars allocated to the future organizing committee, accompanied by a support fund of $160 million dedicated to the development of youth sports.
Municipal elected officials got the message. As proof, this comment from Paul Krekorian, one of the members of the JO committee and the Los Angeles city council, upon leaving the meeting: “It seems clear to me that this is a better deal for the residents of Los Angeles, safer for taxpayers and for the city budget than the one we had for 2024.”
A new stage has been reached, but it will not be the last. Before declaring victory, Wednesday September 13 in Lima, the Los Angeles 2028 team must still cross out a few lines from its roadmap. The most formal should not create any creases. The IOC and the two candidate cities, Paris and Los Angeles, must initial a tripartite agreement before the opening of the session in the Peruvian capital. A formality.
Another step, for Californians: a second vote by the city council on the 2028 project. Friday August 4, the meeting organized at City Hall only concerned the Olympic Games committee. The next one, announced no later than August 18, will bring together the entire municipal council. She is not expected to reverse the trend.
Extremely rare fact: Los Angeles elected officials will vote in favor of a project without knowing the exact budget. According to LA Times, it will be impossible to carry out in just two weeks a precise and independent analysis of the modifications necessary to adjust the project by the 2028 deadline. The final version of the project will not be known for several months.
The municipal council will therefore have to decide on an estimate, which is necessarily incomplete. According to several American analysts, the four additional years increase uncertainties, particularly on economic issues (the inflation rate, for example) and political issues. In the 2024 file, the public contribution amounted to $250 million. It could be different for the next Olympiad.
Finally, the Los Angeles 2028 team still has to find new common ground with the American Olympic Committee. It should relate to the sharing of marketing rights and revenues. In the 2024 version, the bid team and the USOC agreed on an 80/20 split of revenue over the six years of preparation for the Games. The American Olympic Committee would have received 20% of the revenue from the LA 2024 national sponsorship program, or between $350 and $400 million. A sum paid by the USOC in direct aid to athletes and Olympic federations in the run-up to the Games.
What will happen with the Games in 2028? Discussions are ongoing. The new agreement between the two parties must last 8 years, between 2021 and 2028. It should not bring any major changes to the initial partnership. “Larry Probst (USOC President), Scott Blackmun (Executive Director), and I have been friends for over 20 years. We are determined to remain so over the next 11 years,” suggested Casey Wasserman, president of Los Angeles 2028. To be continued.
