The focus in LA after the fires is on a rebuild plan, but with the World Cup, Super Bowl and Olympics on the horizon, more decisions remain.
Josh Silverstein
The city of Los Angeles and state of California have their hands full right now, focusing on extinguishing the still-raging LA wildfires, providing aid to the thousands of displaced evacuees, overseeing a massive commercial and residential rebuilding project for structures lost, and combating the misinformation and bizarre conspiracy theories surrounding the fires promoted mostly by the far right, president-elect and his Tesla-driving bestie.
It's understandable then that the question has been raised of whether LA still can — or should — host the World Cup, Super Bowl and Olympics over the next three years. And the answer, like so much else surrounding these fires, is complicated.
The LA Times published a deep-dive piece on Wednesday delving into the various factors at play in the difficult upcoming decisions for each seminal sports event.
According to the piece, the chairman of the LA28 Olympics organizing committee, Casey Wasserman, is undeterred. Wasserman said in a statement, “The strength of our communities and our unity in tough times make this city extraordinary, and when Los Angeles welcomes the world in 2028, our spirit will shine brighter than ever before.”
The Olympics is the biggest undertaking of the three events — and by far the most expensive, with an estimated price tag of $7 billion.
It's also the farthest into the future of the three sporting events, since it will be for the Summer Games of 2028. The World Cup is supposed to be hosted by LA in 2026, and the Super Bowl is set for February 2027.
All present different logistical challenges, despite the fact that none of the major sports arenas in the area to be used for these events — SoFi Stadium, the Intuit Dome and the Coliseum at USC — were damaged by the fires.
The only sports facilities impacted by the fires related to these events are: the Riviera Country Club, which has been proposed to host Olympic golf events and is in the Palisades fire evacuation zone; and UCLA, which is just outside the warning boundary of the fire area, and which would serve as an Olympic village to reside athletes for the games.
Even still, the main issue of concern if LA is still to host the events isn't so much the sports facilities themselves, as the amount of resources in general that are needed for operations of this magnitude.
As Jules Boykoff, a scholar of sports politics at Oregon's Pacific University pointed out, “Any city preparing for three massive events has its hands full,” adding “If these good people in the government are working on the Olympics and the Super Bowl, they are not working on other issues.”
Those other issues in question mostly center on the huge rebuilding project that lies ahead for Pacific Palisades and other large swaths of the city. The main concern is whether construction can occur on both fronts simultaneously, or whether all resources should be devoted to the fire rebuild efforts ahead of the World Cup, Super Bowl and Olympics.
There is a precedent for switching host cities for the Olympics after a natural disaster, but LA has also been a favorite site in the past.
Sports are one of the few remaining institutions that can bring people together on an epic scale — and there's certainly something to be said for raising morale and hope (not to mention the economic stimulus expected from all the visitors to the city from these events).
But as Los Angelenos takes stock of the damage to their fair city and focus on the present need for disaster relief and a suitable rebuild plan, they also must keep an eye to the future with the World Cup, Super Bowl and Olympics all on the horizon.
Josh Silverstein writes for The Association and writes, edits, and produces content for the video team as well. He's a writer for television/film/new media/stage/print and probably a few other mediums he's forgetting. He is also a wearer of many Mediums for those looking to buy him a shirt.
🚨 Get viral graphics, memes, rumors and trending sports news delivered right to your inbox with the Clutch Newsletter.
🚨 Get viral graphics, memes, rumors and trending sports news delivered right to your inbox with the Clutch Newsletter.
