Should Los Angeles Host the 2024 Olympics?

Los Angeles 2024? Yes, please!

In the summer of 1984, the world’s eyes turned to Los Angeles, the host of the 1984 Summer Olympics. Now in 2024, 40 years later, the second largest city in the United States hopes to reclaim the spotlight.

But before I get into LA 2024, it makes sense to assess the most recent Olympic games. This past summer, Rio De Janeiro drew the globe’s viewing attention. The world sat in awe, watching the likes Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt dominate their competition. However, what much of the world failed to see was the economic nightmare that was Rio 2016. Ranging from the creations of superfluous stadiums, to grand hotels, the Brazilian government invested copious assets in hopes of elevating the country’s global perception. Yet, the creation of varied infrastructure has left Brazil tangling with the issue of how to utilize the newly created facilities. Furthermore, Brazil is projected to remain in the red, losing nearly $6 billion (USD). Brazil, however, isn’t the only Olympic host to experience significant economic losses. Recent hosts including Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, both experienced losses of tens of billions of dollars. Many hosts attribute their losses to the lack of use of infrastructure after the culmination of the games. For example, in Athens, the Parnitha Olympic Village now stands in ruins and is nearly desolate. The lack of foresight, largely regarding infrastructure, lies at the root of the economic collapses we see in the Olympics.

Over the course of the Olympic history, there has only been one Olympic games to have ever profited: LA 1984.

The success of LA 1984 was and has, in large part, been attributed to the utilization of preexisting infrastructure. For example, participating athletes stayed in dorms at the University of Southern California, the University of California Los Angeles, and University of California Santa Barbara, meaning that no additional infrastructure was built to house athletes. Not only did the use of university dorms lower front end costs, but LA’s committee had no worries regarding the future use of newly constructed facilities. Additionally, by structuring the Olympic Village around college campuses, the committee was able to make greater use of the various facilities surrounding each university. This manifested itself best with the use of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, home of the USC football team, as the Olympic Stadium. With a capacity exceeding 90,000 spectators, along with its close proximity to the Olympic Village, the Memorial Coliseum, still in use to this date, serves as an ideal example of an Olympic Stadium. However, the employment of the Memorial Coliseum was just one of many resourceful, and sustainable decisions made by the LA 1984 committee. So with all the success of LA 1984, why not repeat it 40 years later?

The bid for LA 2024, similarly to the bid in 1984, is hinged upon the utilization of preexisting infrastructure. LA has already established itself as a global city, with the facilities of a global city. The sheer number of accommodation options in LA, itself, makes the city extremely viable. Furthermore, the model has already been proving in LA; therefore, when assessing the economic prospects of LA 2024, it’s fair to make accurate financial projections. The committee behind LA 1984 spent a total of $413 million dollars, one of the lowest operating costs in the history of the Olympics. The relatively minimal operating costs of 1984, would suggest similarly low costs in 2024, maybe even lower due to the inherent growth of infrastructure in the city over time.

Additionally, by hosting the Summer Olympics in LA in 2024, the Olympics would be back in the United States for the first time since Atlanta in 1996. In both 1984 and 1996, a sense of American nationalism percolated throughout the nation encouraging Americans to travel to both LA and Atlanta, respectively. The significant rise in domestic travel led to a boom in both the travel and lodging industries, as well as local Southern Californian businesses as there was a greater concentration of consumers in the area. Therefore, in 2024, if LA’s bid goes through, we could expect a significant boom in the travel and lodging sectors, as well as within local business.

In a time where hosting the Olympics has become an economic hindrance, it makes sense for the only profitable Olympics to get the games again. Therefore, LA should be a definite “yes” for the 2024 Olympics!