For the first time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to award two Olympic games at once. Paris and Los Angeles were the only two remaining bids for the 2024 games. Due to this, the IOC voted and came to the agreement that Paris and Los Angeles will host the next two games, where LA will host the latter.
Fear of Hosting
Typically, many cities withdraw bids due to the fear of costs and residual debt that follows with hosting such illustrious event. The majority of the costs come from planning, security and building infrastructure to support the attendance of millions of people. The infrastructure built often goes docile following the years of the Olympic games and leaves cities in debt to incur the costs.
Los Angeles is the Prime Location
According to Mayor Eric Garcetti, hosting the games in LA is a huge opportunity that will bring economic growth to the community. Many cities that hosted the Olympics in the prior years, did not have the infrastructure or much time to plan accordingly. With this announcement, LA has 11 years to plan and already has the ideal infrastructure to support the games. There are many Olympic quality venues that already exist, such as: LA Convention Center, Anaheim Convention Center, LA Coliseum, Rose Bowl, Honda Center and Staples Center, not to mention the Rams and Clippers stadiums that will be built.
In addition, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) can be the Olympic Village where athletes will stay and prepare for the games. Typically, building a suitable Olympic Village could cost billions of dollars barely meeting the standards for the best athletes of the world. UCLA was voted with the best food in America for college campuses, with the dorm rooms resembling luxury hotels. The world class athletic facilities will be used for training and preparing for the games, so athletes will not have to travel far. The cost for using all of this infrastructure is interruption of normal use for the games and then normal activities will resume thereafter.
Transportation
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) will be connected to public transportation using Metro light rails and subways, connecting travelers to all of the previous mentioned arenas. By 2022, a Metro rail will be completed just outside the LAX airport, as well as shuttles prepared to take people to individual terminals. LA is already interconnected using these Metro rails, but further expansion is already in the works.
Costs and Benefits
LA bid committee estimates that it will cost roughly $5.3 billion to host the games, in which it is believed that the sponsorship and ticket sales will cover those costs. The majority of these costs will go to security, infrastructure enhancements and modernization.
The IOC will pay LA around $2 billion for hosting the games, with $180 million advance payment immediately to prepare and plan. With 11 years to go until the Olympic games, LA can use the $180 million to improve the city and prepare the streets for an influx of visitors from around the world.
Since sponsorship and ticket sales will cover the costs, as well as payments from the IOC, LA will greatly benefit from modernizing the city and bringing more attention to the importance of sports. As debt is not a concern, public funds such as taxes won't be necessary to fund the projects. Around 74,000 jobs will be created and displacement of families in LA will not occur since the infrastructure of these arenas already exist.
The city now has further incentives to reduce the homeless population will drive development of homes and mental care for those in need.
Conclusion
The news for LA to host the 2028 Olympic games is a blessing for the community. LA will not only be preparing the infrastructure for the games, but also for the future. Streets will be repaired, the homeless will have housing and care, jobs will be created and the city will be revitalized by fostering economic growth.
Fun Fact: Serena and Venus Williams' talent was found due to the development of tennis courts in LA area from the 1984 Olympic games. The community became better with giving kids hope to become great athletes, while giving them the opportunity to do so.
I highly recommend listening to Bill Simmon's podcast featuring Mayor Eric Garcetti and Casey Wasserman to learn more about what has been discussed in this post.
Cheers,
@brianjuice
