Though the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles may still seem far off, city leaders in the region are finalizing plans that were set in place when the city was first selected to host the Games.
California— and Los Angeles in particular — always weighs the costs vs. revenues when determining whether to host a major sporting event.
Those factors weighed on Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's decision to compete to host the summer Olympics.
While the city got beat out by Paris for the 2024 Olympics, it was ultimately selected to host the 2028 games, and city leaders are feverishly working to finalize plans ahead of the games.
The games "impact not just the city, but areas like the airport and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority," said Ben Ceja, assistant city administrative officer. "The city is in the unique situation in which part of the bid was submitted and based on the legacy of 1984."
Ceja was one of four panelists who spoke at The Bond Buyer's California Public Finance Conference this week about the upcoming games.
Carmen Vargas, director at Barclays, set the table for the discussion by putting the financial decisions faced by cities in historical perspective.
She noted that the 1976 games in Montreal were remembered most for the price tag, more than anything, while the 1984 games in Los Angeles minimized costs and sponsorships.
"The 1976 Games in Montreal were remembered most for their price tag ... where they were slated to cost $250 million and had a final price tag of $1.4 billion," she said
The cost of the Olympic games in Los Angeles had
The panel included an overview shot that showed some of the key areas of the region that are being developed ahead of the Olympics, including the Valley Sports Park and Downtown sports park, USC-LA Live; the Olympic and Paralympic Village at UCLA, Hollywood Park, Southbay Sports Park and Long Beach Sports Park.
"In the past cities were not able to maintain the infrastructure built for the Olympics, once the event had passed," Vargas said. "In Los Angeles, that was not the case after the 1984 Olympics."
The coliseum built for the 1984 Olympics has been used to host University of Southern California football games, and the Los Angeles Rams played there before Sofi stadium was completed in Inglewood two years ago. Plus, the dormitories built for Olympic Village, where the athletes stay resulted in permanent dormitories at several universities around the city.
"We have the benefit in Los Angeles of utilizing, not just the existing infrastructure, but the city had to backstop anything over what the organizing committee had budgeted," Ceja said. "We made sure that we had risk mitigation factors in the agreement. We had measures in that agreement that LA28 must procure insurance. The agreement was put together before COVID-19, so that is a factor now."
The problem is governments rarely successfully repurpose what is built for the Olympics, Ceja said.
Los Angeles officials have done that, and are working with LA28 closely to make sure any infrastructure created is not only beneficial to residents after the Olympics are over, but also doesn't unduly burden taxpayers, Ceja said.
The City of Carson is working on a strategic economic plan for its part in the Olympics that "would look at it from the prism of equity," said Tarik Tahmani, deputy city manager.
Like Los Angeles, it is also trying to make sure that any new parks, infrastructure and public safety will not unduly burden taxpayers.
Los Angeles is already benefitting from its association with the Olympics, because it got a pledge for youth sports of $160 million, that "will be with us for a long time," Ceja said.
"The federal government also played a role on the city side, because the Games are designated as a national security event," Ceja said.
"There is a commitment to public safety to make the games safe and secure," Tahmani said.
From a city perspective, the Games provide opportunities for the Los Angeles County Sheriff, Police Department and Fire Department to contemplate using federal funding to pay for the extra personnel that would be needed to staff the games, he said.
As far as coalescing with LA28, the organization has to bring anything that is massively impactful to the city for a decision, Ceja said.
"We understand what the venues might be," Ceja said. "Some are bigger draws than others, like baseball. Part of the games agreement involves if there is any potential movement of sporting events, city council and mayor have to approve changes."
The city also requires transparency with any documents related to agreements drafted around the games, he said.
From a consumer perspective, Ceja said anyone planning to attend the Olympics should probably start making travel plans now, because hotel availability is likely to fill up years before the games.
"There are going to be working groups around community involvement and diversity," Ceja said. "Those plans will be developed as early as 2025. There will also be a human rights strategy developed, as well as energy."
"We will be looking lessons learned from Paris," Ceja said. "The games being six years out, a lot can happen between now and then. And putting on my budget hat, means looking at agreements involving venue use and municipal services."
"The other thing we know about Los Angeles is it is one of the most diverse cities in the country, so we have to have that diversity when we look at those things coming up," Ceja said.
