LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games announced changes to its venue plans Friday that it says will save an estimated $156 million and increase revenue.
What you need to know: The swimming will take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, which will seat 38,000 and be the largest swimming venue in Olympic history.
Track and field events will be held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Plans for the opening and closing ceremonies remain unchanged, with some of them to be held at both the Coliseum and SoFi Stadium.
The Los Angeles Olympics will be held from July 14 to 30, 2028.
Aquatics will take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, which will seat 38,000 and be the largest aquatics venue in Olympic history. Basketball will take place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood and gymnastics at Crypto.com Arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Track and field will continue to take place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The Los Angeles Olympic Games will be held from July 14 to 30, 2028.
Plans for the opening and closing ceremonies will remain unchanged, with some to be held at both the Coliseum and SoFi Stadium. As a result, the traditional schedules for athletics and swimming will be adjusted: athletics will be moved to the first week of the Games, while swimming will take place in the second week. LA28 says the governing bodies of both sports have approved and support the changes.
Softball and canoe slalom will be held in Oklahoma City. According to LA28, Southern California’s largest softball venue has a capacity of less than 2,000 people and is expected to attract large crowds, but there is no canoe slalom venue in the region. Moving these sports allows LA28 to align with the International Olympic Committee’s sustainability-focused policy, which avoids building temporary venues and encourages the use of existing venues outside the host city.
According to LA28, the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area in the San Fernando Valley will host BMX freestyle and BMX racing, as well as a skateboard park, street competitions and archery.
Diving will take place in the same pool that hosted the 1932 Olympic swimming events at Exposition Park in South Downtown Los Angeles. Long Beach will also host artistic and para-swimming events, along with other events to be announced.
Equestrian and para-equestrian events will move from Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area to an existing facility in Temecula, an hour and a half from Los Angeles, that is large enough to host all events in one location.
Shooting and parasports competitions will also be moved from the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area to one of two sport shooting clubs to be determined outside Los Angeles.
LA28 estimates that each venue relocation will have an economic impact of at least $10 million by reducing the cost and complexity of building, overlaying and operating temporary stadiums.
The organizing committee has submitted updated venue allocations to the City of Los Angeles, which must approve any events that move outside the city limits from venue plans submitted in the bid.
The previous venue plans were drawn up in 2017 during the city’s bidding process. Since then, several new stadiums and arenas have become available.
