Santa Monica | Photo by Dietmar Rabich via Wikimedia Commons
Santa Monica Rejects 2028 Olympics Amid City Costs
While Santa Monica marks the birthplace of beach volleyball, the city will not be hosting any games during the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
According to Santa Monica officials, talks between the city and the Olympics organizing committee to host beach volleyball have ended, as the games would cost the city too much money. The organizing committee had been considering hosting beach volleyball in the city since they first put a bid for the Games to be held in Los Angeles back in 2016. However, the city and organizing committee were unable to agree on a number of factors including community benefits and financial guarantees.
Santa Monica mayor Lana Negrete noted in a statement that “there is no better place to host the Olympic beach volleyball competition than Santa Monica, where the sport was born.”
“We would have loved to be a venue city in 2028,” Negrete said. “While we’re disappointed that an agreement was not realized, we remain eager to share in the excitement the Olympics will bring to our region and looking forward to being a regional partner in this historic event.”
According to a study from the city, released last October, hosting the Olympic event would result in a net loss of $1.45 million for the city, while not hosting would generate $10 million in profits from tourist sites, which would remain open during the games.
LA28 will host beach volleyball elsewhere, though an official location has not been pinned-down at this time.
The LA28 organizing committee is working within a budget estimated at $7 billion, a figure that contrasts the escalating costs seen in recent Olympics, such as the $10 billion spent by Paris and $13 billion for the Tokyo 2021 Games.
The budgeting for the games aligns with Los Angeles’ commitment to sustainability and fiscal responsibility. Central to the city’s plans is utilizing existing venues, minimizing the need for new construction.
The 2028 Summer Olympics are slated to begin on Friday, July 14, 2028 and run until Sunday, July 20, 2028.
