Despite outcry, L.A. Olympics to press onward

It's too late for buyer's remorse, experts say, and few other cities are equipped to host.

- BY THỤC NHI NGUYEN

The Great Depression threatened the 1932 Olympics. A pandemic raged during the 2021 Tokyo Games. Parisians planned a "poop protest" in the Seine before the 2024 Games.

From natural disasters, construction woes or unpopular opinion, every Olympics has faced threats in the planning process.

Yet nearly every time, the city, ready or not, still hosted the Games.

With less than three years before the Los Angeles Olympics, calls on social media for the city to withdraw or cancel have intensified. Wildfires devastated Pacific Palisades and Altadena in January. L.A. had to balance a $1-billion deficit. Immigration raids have put communities on edge while President Trump has threatened further military intervention.

But Olympic preparations press forward. So invested in the success of the 2028 Games, the International Olympic Committee allowed venue naming rights for the first time in history. LA28, the private group responsible for organizing the Games, has contracted more than 70% of its $2.5-billion sponsorship goal, with more deals coming.

No matter the calls for withdrawal, the prospect remains almost impossible.

“There’s no buyer's remorse,” said Michael Payne, a sports marketer and former longtime IOC executive.

Can Los Angeles back out of hosting the Olympics?

Legally, no.

Host cities and host country national organizing committees (in this country, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee) sign a host city contract, also called an HCC, after the 10C officially awards the Games. The contract for the 2028 Games, signed by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti and then-City Council President Herb Wesson in September 2017, states procedures for termination from the IOC’s perspective but doesn't leave the same option for the host city or the national organizing committee.