UPDATE 7/11: The IOC has officially approved a proposal that guarantees an Olympic Games in L.A. The Olympic governing body will simultaneously award the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics in September, when Paris and L.A. will find out which specific year each will play host city. The IOC cites "exceptional circumstances and unique opportunities" for the unprecedented move.
The International Olympic Committee is gathered in Switzerland today and have come out of the meeting with a pretty unusual announcement. Both Paris and Los Angeles will likely be Olympic hosts.
Los Angeles and Paris are the only two cities in contention for 2024’s summer games at this point—and both bids were seen as strong options.
The field for 2028, however, is currently wide open. Several cities have made initial statements of interest in the ’28 games, but, as the New York Times reports, hosting an Olympics isn’t as alluring of an opportunity as it once was. With all the infrastructure costs associated with being a host city—including building stadiums, investing in security and transportation and more—it can be an unpopular money pit for a municipality.
So, given that, they couldn't ensure what kind of bids they might get for 2028. According to the BBC, the IOC unanimously approved a plan to award both games at the same time. Rather than lose the chance to work with either Los Angeles or Paris, the IOC will break with historic convention and award both 2024 and 2028 in a simultaneous ceremony. The proposal will go to a vote in front of the full IOC membership in July.
When the idea of pushing L.A.’s games back an extra four years was first floated several months ago, there seemed to be resistance on the part of city leaders, but they’ve changed their tune. “To be blunt, L.A. 2024 has never been only about L.A. or 2024,” chairman of the bid committee, Casey Wasserman, wrote this week.
The odds makers suggest that Paris would be up first in 2024 and Los Angeles would be awarded 2028, but that formal announcement is still months down the line. What this does mean is that, in all likelihood, an Olympics will be heading to L.A., it’s just a matter of when.
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