With venues nearly set for 2028 LA Olympics, cities hope for cache, tourist cash

With the Paris Olympics less than a week away, venues for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games are approaching the finish line.

Some cities in the past considered the games a bother, a traffic magnet, or a criminal threat, but the 2028 Olympics four years away have been welcomed by Los Angeles, as with many other Southern California cities designated to host Olympic events.

Inglewood will host three major events: the opening ceremonies and swimming at SoFi Stadium, and basketball at the soon-to-be-completed Intuit Dome.

Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. reflected on the change from holding the opening ceremonies at the Los Angeles Coliseum to holding the ceremonies at SoFi, including the entrance of the torch relay and the lighting of the perpetual flame.

“That will be an iconic, historical event and Inglewood will be enshrined in the legacy of the Olympic games,” Butts said on Thursday, July 18.

He said he was surprised the SoFi stadium would get the Opening Ceremonies, and then more recently LA28 — the committee organizing the 2028 games —  named SoFi as the swimming venue.

A pool will be installed beneath the football field surface at the stadium used by the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers and that seats 70,000 for football. During the Olympics it will accommodate 38,000 spectators, the most for an Olympic swimming venue.

SoFi was built with flexibility in mind, Butts said, and “it was designed so the lower levels are convertible.”

LA28 wrote in an emailed response on July 19, “LA28 has the additional complexity of hosting the Opening Ceremony on top of the pool which will take some additional time to add that structural overlay. But the pool, and training pool, will be ready in time for the Swimming competition.”

Like Inglewood, other areas will host Olympic sports for the first time.

The Sepulveda Basin, a 2,000-acre flood-control channel and a recreational and wildlife area in the San Fernando Valley near the 405 and 101 freeways will be redesigned to host three sports: skateboarding (street and park), BMX Cycling (freestyle and racing) and archery.

“LA28 has always committed to hosting events in the Valley, and we’re proud to assign these youthful, high energy and precision sports that will generate an incredible atmosphere at the venues and a lot of excitement for the community and fans from around the world,” LA28 said in an email.

During the last Olympics in L.A. in 1984, the San Fernando Valley had zero events. Four events were planned in the Valley in 1984 but many residents and environmental groups voiced strong concerns about traffic so the events were moved elsewhere.

Opposition in the Valley was so strong that Peter Ueberroth, who headed up the Olympic Organizing Committee, believed that someone intentionally poisoned his dogs at his Encino home.

Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry & Commerce Association and also on the LA28 board, said the sports coming to the Valley in 2028 are a big change from the original bid when the Sepulveda Basin was to have canoe slalom, equestrian and shooting.

“VICA has pushed this for four years. It will be good for the Valley,” he said on July 17, before hopping on a plane to Paris to watch this year’s summer games.

Nancy Hoffman Vanyek, president and CEO of the Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber, notes that many BMX bike shops and bike manufacturers have been based in the Valley since the 1970s. Kids took their bikes to makeshift BMX spots — old shopping center lots — and rode the wave of the burgeoning BMX craze.

The idea of BMX being born in the San Fernando Valley is enshrined in the Valley Relics Museum, where 40 BMX bikes from the 1970s and 1980s are on display.

“BMX will be a draw for anyone who grew up in the San Fernando Valley,” said Hoffman Vanyek, who hails from Reseda in the Valley. “BMX was really big here in the 1970s and 1980s,” she said on July 18, adding that there’s a wide age span of riders at BMX events, from teenagers to folks in their 60s.

“These are events that definitely are Generation Z friendly,” said Waldman. “And skateboarding is a part of that.”

The Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber is working with Valley businesses to prepare for the Olympics, in both workforce training and hiring, said Hoffman Vanyek. The tourism sector, including hospitality, retail and restaurants, will experience a boost in business, she predicted.

While the San Fernando Valley lost out on canoeing, the sports of canoe-sprint and rowing went to the city of Long Beach’s Marine Stadium. Sailing will take place in Belmont Shore, while marathon swimming and triathlon events will be held at the waterfront along Alamitos Beach. Water polo — an action-packed sport where players tread water the entire time — will be at the temporary aquatics center at the Long Beach Convention Center lot.

Long Beach has long dealt with water quality issues — particularly in Alamitos Bay, where some of the events will be held. The city — along with many others in the Southern California region — is prone to frequent, large sewage spills.

“Long Beach, they get impacted by sewage spills all the time because they’re at the terminus of the Los Angeles River and the San Gabriel River,” Heal the Bay’s director of science and policy, Katherine Pease, said in a recent interview.

The city said is has been working proactively to address sewage spills and strong storms — both of which can negatively impact the city’s waterways.

“(Long Beach) is taking proactive measures to ensure that the water quality for local beaches and waterways is clean and safe for both athletes and spectators alike,” said Jennifer De Prez, a city spokesperson, in a statement on Friday, July 19.

Nearby Carson scored four Olympic sports hosted by Dignity Health Sports Park, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy: cycling-track at the Velodrome, hockey at The Fields (now training grounds for L.A.Galaxy), rugby at the stadium, and tennis at the Tennis Center. Carson’s velodrome was used for cycling during the L.A. Olympics in 1984.

“We are poised to deliver an unforgettable experience that will leave a lasting legacy of growth, unity, and inspiration for generations to come,” said Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes in a prepared statement. “Together, we will embark on this journey to celebrate the power of sport and the spirit of competition, all while incorporating sustainability and inclusion.”

The small city of Temecula in Riverside County landed the equestrian events at Galway Downs, an equestrian facility near Temecula.

“It’s an incredible boost for establishing a permanent, international stage for equestrian sports,” said Kim F. Miller, a spokesperson for Galway Downs.

“There are fewer and fewer places to keep horses and enjoy them and see them in competition,” Miller said. “So it’s great for people to have access to these sports. And the Olympics will leave behind facilities that are even more amazing.”

Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events include show jumping, dressage and eventing.

Here’s a list of some of the venue sites and sports according to LA28:

Los Angeles

Badminton in the USC (Galen) Sports Center; fencing, judo, table tennis, Taekwondo and wrestling in the Convention Center in Downtown Los Angeles; golf at The Riviera Country Club (Pacific Palisades); weightlifting in the Theater in LA Live! in Downtown Los Angeles; track and field in the Los Angeles Coliseum; diving in the pool in Exposition Park; and artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline gymnastics in Crypto.com Arena in Downtown Los Angeles.

Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area – San Fernando Valley

BMX freestyle, BMX races, skateboarding, archery

Carson

Cycling at track in Velodrome, hockey at The Fields, rugby sevens in the stadium, tennis in the Tennis Center

Long Beach

Canoe sprint and rowing in the Marine Stadium, handball in the Arena, marathon swimming and triathlon at the waterfront, sailing in Belmont Shore, water polo in the Convention Center Lot

Inglewood

Opening Ceremonies and swimming at SoFi Stadium, basketball at Intuit Dome

Temecula

Equestrian events at Galway Downs, just outside city limits

The Associated Press and SCNG staff writers Kristy Hutchings and Delilah Brumer contributed to this article.