Los Angeles has reached an agreement with that will open the way for the city to host the 2028 Summer Games. LA city council spokeswoman Caolinn Mejza says the pact is expected to be reviewed by the council later this week.
The agreement, which,will be formally announced later on Monday, follows a vote earlier this month by the International Olympic Committee to seek a deal to award the 2024 and 2028 Games. Paris is the only city left to host the 2024 Games.
The arrangement would make LA a three-time Olympic city, after hosting the 1932 and 1984 Games.
LA and Paris were the last two bids remaining after a tumultuous process that exposed the unwillingness of cities to bear the financial burden of hosting an event that has become synonymous with cost overruns. LA was not even the first American entrant in the contest. Boston withdrew two years ago as public support for its bid collapsed over concerns about use of taxpayer cash. The US bid switched from the East to the West Coast as LA entered the race. But the same apprehensions that spooked politicians and the local population in Boston soon became evident in Europe where three cities pulled out.
Uncomfortably for IOC president Thomas Bach, whose much-vaunted Agenda 2020 reforms were designed to make hosting more streamlined and less costly after the lavish 2014 Sochi Games, the first withdrawal came from his homeland of Germany.
The lack of political unity for a bid in Hamburg was mirrored in Rome and Budapest as support for bids waned among local authorities and the population. It was clear they did not want to be saddled with skyrocketing bills for hosting the Olympics without reaping many of the economic benefits anticipated. Just like in the depleted field for the 2022 Winter Games which saw Beijing defeat Almaty, the IOC was left with only two candidates again.
With two powerful cities left vying for 2024, Bach realized France or the US could be deterred from going through another contest for 2028 if they lost. Bach floated the idea in December of making revisions to the bidding process to prevent it producing “too many losers,” building support that led to LA and Paris being able to figure out themselves how to share the 2024 and 2028 Games.
The dual award of the games relieves the IOC of having to test the global interest in hosting the Summer Olympics for several years until the 2032 Games are up for grabs.
