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≡ LA28 AND MONEY ≡
“[W]e estimate that the LA28 Games will generate between $13.6 and $17.6 billion in additional gross domestic product (GDP) for the six-county SCAG region.”
That’s the bottom line from a new study from the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) on the economic impact from the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles over the 2024-29 period.
The SCAG region includes the counties of Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura, and the three authors noted that the LA28 approach, with no new permanent venues to be built, what the study calls a “low-liability approach.” And the report notes that most of the money spent and generated by the Games will remain at home:
“This analysis shows that the LA28 Games’ local spend requirement appears poised to keep much of the economic impact within the region. While 37 of 41 venues are in Los Angeles County, 33 percent of the expected impact is in the region’s other five counties. The economic impact outside the SCAG region is comparatively small.”
The estimated projected impacts of the 2028 Games in brief:
● $13.62 to $17.63 billion in the Southern California six-county region
● $14.17 to $18.34 billion in California
● $8.96 to $11.97 billion in Los Angeles County (63.2 to 67.9%)
● $2.44 to $2.88 billion in Orange County
● $1.00 to $1.32 billion in Riverside County
● $0.81 to $0.99 billion in San Bernardino County
● $0.40 to $0.46 billion in Ventura County
● $0.01 billion in Imperial County
Now, where does the money come from?
● “1. Direct Effects: New spending injected into the region’s economy. This includes the $7.15 billion privately funded operating budget of the LA28 Committee, between $1.89 billion and $2.37 billion in estimate spending by visitors, media, and sponsors, and between $1.25 billion and $4.63 billion in transportation infrastructure investment attributable to the LA28 Games, to develop a low and high scenario.”
● “2. Indirect Effects: The ‘business-to-business,’ or supply chain activity. As businesses in hospitality, event services, construction, logistics, and others receive direct spending, they, in turn, purchase goods and services from other local suppliers, creating a ripple effect.”
● “3. Induced Effects: The household spending that results from new labor income. The wages and salaries paid to employees hired for both direct and indirect activities are spent on local housing, food, and services, generating further economic activity.”
The figures for the LA28 budget are set and the estimate for visitor spending has a 25% spread, but the transportation figure, with a variance of up to 3.7x is obviously questionable. To the extent that the lowest figure is used, it more likely reflects spending on programming which is actually related to the 2028 Games and not to permanent infrastructure being built for decades to come.
Using the lower scenario (reflecting lower transport spending), the economic impact on the region will be felt mostly in 2028:
● $1.59 billion impact in 2024 and prior
● $1.49 billion impact in 2025
● $1.32 billion impact in 2026
● $1.05 billion impact in 2027
● $8.68 billion impact in 2028
● –$0.50 billion impact in 2029
The impact of the 2028 Games will be sizable, but not overwhelming in any way. By contrast, the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation estimated the Gross County Product for 2024 in Los Angeles County alone at $802.0 billion. That makes the LA28 impact in 2028 alone a little over 1% of the total, assuming 2% growth over the next few years.
A lot of money, but a small part of the overall picture for an economic giant like Los Angeles County.
The report noted that the outlook for LA28 and the Games is, if all goes to plan, bright:
“The ‘no-build’ plan makes the LA28 Games the most sustainable in the modern era, eliminating the carbon footprint and material waste of major construction, while reducing the fiscal liability on the region’s taxpayers. If LA28 can deliver on its promises, it will create a blueprint for a more sustainable, responsible, and socially conscious approach to hosting the world’s premier sporting event.”
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Following along with the report’s sunny outlook, LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman confirmed that the organizing committee had hit its $2 billion goal in domestic sponsorship agreements for the end of 2025:
“Surpassing $2 billion in sponsorship more than two-and-a-half years before the LA28 Games arrive is confirmation of our strong position and progress toward delivering a fiscally responsible yet epic event.”
The LA28 budget has $2.517 billion shown for domestic sponsor sales, and after a slow start that included the Covid-19 pandemic, things sped up in 2025, with projections of $2 billion by the end of the year predicted back in February 2025.
U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Properties head John Slusher, who heads the sales effort for the joint venture between LA28 and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, told Bloomberg that at least two more “big names” would be joining as sponsors at levels of $100 million or more in 2026.
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