![2024 Paris Olympic beach volleyball](https://www.sportico.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2164041614-1-e1722176023449.jpg?w=1600&h=901&crop=1)
When the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games conclude with the closing ceremony on Sunday night, the final festivities will include a handover moment that gives onlookers a glimpse of what’s to come when Los Angeles hosts in four years. In addition to special Hollywood appearances from standout Olympians, the formal transfer will feature Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo presenting the Olympic flag to LA mayor Karen Bass.
The historic exchange will officially begin the countdown to the Summer Games in 2028. “It’s off to the races,” LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover said in a video interview.
Hoover and his colleagues have a hefty workload ahead as they ramp up preparations for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. But seeing the Paris Summer Games reenergize the U.S. corporate market and draw worldwide excitement has boosted their mood.
The Olympic spark is back after the pandemic dimmed the festivities of the Tokyo Games in 2021 and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.
“It’s a total reset in the Olympic Games and the Olympic movement,” Hoover said. “One of the things about LA is the star power, creativity and culture that we’ve got. LA is the perfect place to host the Games and build off what we’ve seen here [in Paris] to take it to the next level.”
To take the Games to the next level, the privately-run LA28 committee must secure the necessary funding. LA28 organizers, Team USA and Comcast continue to move toward its domestic corporate sponsorship goal of $2.5 billion. Hoover, who replaced former CEO Katy Carter two months ago, said LA28 and its joint venture partners are more than 65% done with reaching that long-term goal, with more than $1 billion in gross sponsorship commitments.
Team USA and LA28 got off to a slow start after the USOPC allowed roughly 20 major sponsorship deals to expire after the Tokyo Olympics. But the LA28 organizing committee has gained more momentum over the last year leading up to the Paris Games. It has recently added Cisco, Michelob Ultra, Guild, Autodesk and others as it looks to fill up categories across multiple tiers over the next few years.
The committee, though, is still in need of additional major partners. Delta and Comcast are the only founding partners still around after LA28 parted ways with Salesforce in April—less than three years into a seven-year partnership.
LA28 plans to reveal new deals in coming weeks, it said, as the organization didn’t want to steal any attention from the Paris Games.
Hoover mentioned the importance of attracting top sponsors. But he also noted how imperative it is to find the right partners who can provide essential services like transportation and other logistical services.
The retired U.S. Army lieutenant general and his team were on the ground in Paris for weeks to meet with prospective sponsors and partners. He’s confident that LA28 and Team USA will exceed that $2.5 billion sponsorship goal in time, though it’s more beneficial for organizers to collect as much sales revenue up front for assurances and operational purposes since the committee spends roughly 80% of its budget in the 18 months leading up to and through the conclusion of the Games.
“It’s hard for people to invest today for a payoff tomorrow,” he said. “As it gets closer and momentum starts building, we’ll see more sponsors wanting to come in.”
The viewership numbers are one of the bright spots heading into 2026 Winter Games in Milan, Italy, and 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. This summer’s offering delivered more than 30 million viewers each day, according to The Hollywood Reporter, up by more than 75% compared to the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021. That’s great news for NBCUniversal parent Comcast, which plays a key role in the joint venture with Team USA and the USOPC to reach that sponsorship goal.
“I think these Games are what the world needed–not just the Olympic world but the world in general,” former IOC marketing exec Terrence Burns, who helped LA land the Games, said in an interview. “And I think they can only benefit LA because LA has a great story to tell and a great product to sell.”
Looking Ahead
LA28 organizers hope the success in Paris will be helpful not only in securing more sponsorship opportunities but also in driving ticket sales. The city plans to use existing infrastructure and venues such as SoFi Stadium and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to support the 2028 Games.
LA28, which partnered with AXS and CTS EVENTIM to create a ticketing joint venture, hopes to sell more 150,000 tickets a day across multiple events. The Coliseum, which is getting a $100 million makeover to host track and field competitions, was where former American sprinter Carl Lewis won four gold medals during the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Those Games were transformational for the Olympic movement, and LA28 organizers will look to pay homage to that era in their attempt to capture the next generation of Olympics fans (five new sports including flag football are coming on).
It’s unclear whether the nation’s most decorated Olympians—gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Katie Ledecky—will make a return in four years to pad their outstanding resumes. Regardless, the more than 30 golds captured by American Olympians will help to draw eyeballs.
“Americans love a winner,” said Rob Prazmark, whose Connecticut-based agency, 21 Marketing, has brokered Olympic sponsor deals for organizing committees since 1985. “That’s compelling. Why turn on an NBC Peacock broadcast and see America lose? Nobody wants to do that.”
After having more than 300 Russian athletes competing in Tokyo, the International Olympic Committee barred Russians who don’t register as “individual neutral athletes” from competing in the Paris Summer Games following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Prazmark notes the potential return of all Russian athletes will only increase the anticipation for the next Summer Games, adding another storyline to play out on the world stage. “That would be great television,” he added.
Celebrities overtook the Olympic Village in Paris during the duration of the Games; NBC partnered with iconic figures such as Snoop Dogg to serve as the “ambassador of happiness.” This year’s opening ceremony included performances from notable A-listers from Lady Gaga to Celine Dion.
Los Angeles, known for its never-ending supply of Hollywood talent, already is making plans to roll out the red carpet in an unprecedented way when it’s showtime in four years.
“I can’t think of a better way to come out of retirement to unite the city, the nation and the world around sport at a time when we need it the most,” Hoover said. “I want people to come to LA and experience what they’re experiencing in Paris. But in the LA way.”