L.A. City Council Committee Examines Higher Estimated 2028 Olympics Budget
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A Los Angeles City Council committee examined a new report today showing the estimated cost of staging the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics has risen to $6.9 billion.
An original budget estimate of $5.3 billion was made before Los Angeles redirected its bid in 2017 from the 2024 Games to the 2028 Games. According to the private organizing committee, known as LA 2028, the higher figure is the result of adjusting for inflation, but the overall budget for the Games is still balanced.
The City Council's Ad Hoc Committee on the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games discussed the report during a morning meeting and asked representatives of LA 2028 and the company that prepared the budget, accounting firm KPMG, for more information on some topics.
Councilman Paul Krekorian wanted more details on how accurate past Olympics have been in predicting ticket sales.
“Was the London games 20 percent off or two percent off?” Krekorian asked. “I want to get a scale of accuracy, because we're projecting out now four years further into the future, so obviously with all of our assumptions, there's a higher degree of inaccuracy just due to the passage of time, so it's harder to predict.”
The report was kept in the committee until another meeting likely to be held next month.
“Our budget is privately funded, realistic and fiscally conservative,” LA 2028 Chairman Casey Wasserman said last month when the report was released. “We are redefining what it means to host a successful Games and look forward to planning and hosting an amazing experience that will make our community proud.”
The City Council approved the switch to bidding for `28 instead of `24 in August 2017 despite not having a complete picture of the financial aspects of the decision.
Like previous projections, the new budget includes no money to be spent from the city's general fund. Organizers have said they can cover all costs from corporate sponsorships, ticket sales, broadcast rights and the International Olympic Committee's contribution.
LA 2028 plans to utilize existing or previously planned venues and not build any new permanent structures just for the Games, which is predicted to keep the costs for Los Angeles low compared to previous Games.
LA 2028 is the nonprofit, privately funded organization responsible for spearheading the successful effort to bring the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games to Los Angeles. Los Angeles was officially named in September 2017 as host of the 2028 Summer Olympics by a unanimous vote of the International Olympic Committee in Lima, Peru.
The successful bid came an unprecedented 11 years before the actual Olympics are set to take place. Paris was simultaneously awarded the 2024 Games. The two cities were initially in competition just for 2024 before a deal was struck to award both Games at the same time to the two cities.
Host cities are typically named seven years in advance, and L.A. was able to garner numerous financial concessions out of the IOC by agreeing to wait the extra four years.
Top Image: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images
