LA 2028: When are the next Olympic Games and how much will they cost?
Are you planning to tune into the Paris 2024 Olympic Games closing ceremony today? Well when you do there will be a segment about LA 2028.
The Olympics will head Stateside in four years time for the first time since Atlanta 1996, returning to Los Angeles 44 years after the West Coast last hosted a summer Olympiad.
But when will the Olympics be, what stadiums will be used and what can we expect?
When is LA 2028?
The next Olympiad will begin on Friday 14 July 2028 and conclude on Sunday 30 July 2028. The Paralympics will take place from 15 to 27 August.
In a break with tradition, the Olympic Games in the USA will showcase athletics in the first week and swimming in the second due to the use of the SoFi Stadium for both the swimming and opening ceremony.
What stadiums will be used?
Like Paris 2024, LA 2028 will try to be as sustainable as possible during their Games. They will use existing stadiums for nearly every sport and aim for LA 2028 to be the first car-free Olympics.
There have been concerns that LA, despite the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, will be unable to match the iconic venue locations we have seen in Paris in 2024 and London in 2012.
Instead they will look to an ultra-modern approach, with the NFL arena SoFi Stadium hosting swimming and the superb Intuit Dome, home of the Clippers, hosting basketball.
The Los Angeles Coliseum, used at both the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games, will host the athletics.
The new sports
There will be five new sports at LA 2028 with the majority of them, unsurprisingly, a good medal shot for the host nation.
- Squash
- Flag Football
- Lacrosse
- Baseball/Softball
- Cricket
What can we expect from the LA Olympic Games?
Well these Games are set to be a car-free Games despite concerns surrounding the cost of upgrading public transport.
“We’re already working to create jobs by expanding our public transportation system in order for us to have a no-car Games,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said this week. “And that’s a feat for Los Angeles, as we’ve always been in love with our cars. We’re working to ensure that we can build a greener Los Angeles.”
We can expect Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the stardom that comes with a city like Los Angeles. Where France struggled to find global stars from the host country to represent them at the opening ceremony on the River Seine, LA, like London, will have no issue at all.
We can expect celebrity and ultra-modern technology driving the Olympics; after all LA has no Palace of Versailles!
And the price?
Well, despite the use of (mostly) existing stadiums across a region of the States with incredible competition for quality of arena, the latest budget sits at over £5bn.
And that does not include the required upgrades to existing and new public transport routes.
| Year | Host | Final Operating Budget |
| 2028 | Los Angeles | $6.8bn* |
| 2024 | Paris | $8.2bn* |
| 2020 | Tokyo | $15.4bn |
| 2016 | Rio de Janeiro | $13.1bn |
| 2012 | London | £6.5bn |
| 2008 | Beijing | $44bn |
| 2004 | Athens | $15bn |
| 2000 | Sydney | $6.5bn |
- *Games not fully costed yet