The 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles are breaking tradition and opening a new source of revenue for the Games.
For the first time in Olympic and Paralympic history, venues used for the Games will be allowed to have corporate sponsor names attached to them, with LA28 and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announcing the groundbreaking agreement on Thursday.
LA28 revealed the Comcast Squash Center at Universal Studios and the Honda Center as the first two named venues of the Games.
“From the moment we submitted our bid, LA28 committed to reimagining what’s possible for the Games,” said LA28 Chairperson and President, Casey Wasserman. “Today’s historic announcement delivers on that promise, creating the first-ever venue naming rights program in Olympic and Paralympic history while advancing LA28’s mission of a fully privately funded and no-new-build Games.
“These groundbreaking partnerships with Comcast and Honda, along with additional partners to come, will not only generate critical revenue for LA28 but will introduce a new commercial model to benefit the entire Movement. We’re grateful to the IOC for making this transformation possible.”
The IOC has historically attempted to limit the corporate influence on the Games, at least in terms of the naming rights for fields of play, which have long had a “clean venue” tradition, something that’s also present at other major international events like the FIFA World Cup. When the clean venue tradition is in place, a well-known venue like SoFi Stadium, where swimming will take place in LA, had to officially be referred to by LA28 organizers by a generic name, such as”2028 Stadium,” for example.
That’s no longer the case for the next Summer Olympics, which opens up a new revenue stream. According to LA28, qualifying partners will have the opportunity to keep existing venue naming rights during the Games, such as SoFi Stadium, Crypto.com Arena and BMO Stadium.
There is “opportunity for the naming rights of up to 19 temporary venues will become available to Worldwide Olympic & Paralympic Games partners and LA28 partners,” LA28 said.
“Our job is to push and our job is to do what’s best for the Olympics in Los Angeles,” Wasserman told The Los Angeles Times. “Our job in those conversations [with the IOC] was to explain why this was more than just about money. It was about experience and value and opportunity.”
Wasserman reportedly said he has contracts for approximately 70% of the projected $2.5 billion domestic sponsorship goal for the Games, which will be privately funded. He said any additional revenue from the new naming rights opportunities while be in addition to his previous estimates, according to The Los Angeles Times.
With a budget of $7.1 billion, LA28 has secured eight new corporate sponsors in 2025, including Honda, Archer Aviation, Snowflake and Uber.
“The momentum is meaningful and real,” Wasserman told The Times. “We feel good about where we are but we certainly don’t take that for granted.”
The last time Los Angeles hosted the Olympics in 1984 is widely considered the most financially successful Games ever, generating a reported surplus of $250 million, while most Olympics before and after have tended to lose money.
I wish FIFA would do this for next year’s World Cup. Instead we get the boring Seattle Stadium, Miami Stadium, Philadelphia Stadium etc due to sponsorship rules.
For those of us who are NFL fans they are better known as Lumen Field, Hard Rock Stadium and Lincoln Financial Field. And the final will officially be at New York/New Jersey Stadium instead of MetLife Stadium.
I worked for the Salt Lake 2002 Organizing Committee. Have always loved the Olympics – Winter or Summer.
After LA ’84, which really started the commercialization dimension more than any prior Games, Atlanta took it to a level of excess that created pretty big pushback, so Sydney and Salt Lake dialed it back a lot. Aside from the state-driven China and Russia Games, most have tried to do the same.
I suspect a big challenge now, in addition to the enormous inflationary costs from the past handful of years, is that host cities want to develop and operate using private funding rather than federal or state. And no, that has nothing to do with Trump for the triggered. It’s… Read more »
“And no, that has nothing to do with Trump for the triggered”
And yet you mentioned it.
I thought your writing was good and balanced until that part.
you’re right. I shouldn’t have slipped, though that does tend to be a first reaction among some. I am no fan of any narcissist, including Trump, so just want people to look past the emotional reactions to the real issues. But I will do better, thank you.
Swimming competition brought to you by World Liberty Financial, insuring a gold medal sweep for USA
The outdoor pool, set up in a parking lot is disrespectful and unfair to the Paralympic swimmers. There are a multitude of reasons that Olympic swimming is held at INDOOR venues. SOMEONE needs to talk to the affected athletes and advocate for them. (Albinism, visual impairment, temp regulation). Good luck, backstrokers!
I don’t really have any problems with this, I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t happened sooner.
That said, it’s oddly ironic seeing as the Olympic Games are predicated on Amateur athletic accomplishments but everything about it is now purely based on money. It’s a statement of the times rather than any particular organization or event
I’m shockingly not that mad about this
It’s not like renaming Fenway Park, they’re usually temporary venues anyway
I wonder how much revenue LA2028 will be able to generate off of venue naming rights.
Can’t wait for the Lockheed Martin – Palantir Aquatic Center!