In late April, an updated budget was released by the private committee responsible for staging the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and it estimated that the cost for the sport event has increased to $6.9 billion. The new estimate is $700 million more than previous estimates, which organizers are claiming is just an adjustment for inflation. Los Angeles had originally bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, but agreed to wait for the 2028 Games. The revenue is also expected to increase, which would cover all expenses through corporate sponsorships, ticket sales, merchandising and other sources. Casey Wasserman, the committee chairman, state the following,
We didn’t change the plan and we didn’t change the delivery of the plan. Our intent was to make sure there are no surprises. Our budget is privately funded and is realistic, fiscally conservative and fundamentally different than previous Games.
This is the third time in three years that organizers have revised their expenses. City and state legislators have pledging taxpayer dollars to pay for cost overruns, so it’s important for the event to have a balanced budget. A group against the event called NOlympics LA has continued to voice concern about how the event might divert resources away from residents in poor and working-class communities throughout the city. Other critics point to a long list of Olympic host cities that were left with massive deficits, even though they started with balanced budgets. Hopefully, the 2028 Summer Olympics are a success and Los Angeles doesn’t get stuck with debt.
