LOS ANGELES 2028: Wasserman says LA28 has 72% of budget committed so far; IOC has advanced $251+ million to LA28 through 2024

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≡ LA28 REVENUES $5.1B SO FAR ≡

The New York Times posted a lengthy update story on the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games organizing effort on Wednesday (28th) titled “L.A. Made Big Promises for the Olympics. Can it Deliver by 2028?,” which included the usual recitation of positive and negative views of progress, from most of the usual suspects.

Of note was a financial update from LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman, as the story noted:

“Mr. Wasserman said he had obtained commitments of $5.1 billion from benefactors and corporate sponsors and was confident that the rest of the $7.1 billion [budget] would come in ticket sales.”

This is 72% of the budget and $500 million more than the $4.6 million confirmed at the news conference following last November’s International Olympic Committee Coordination Commission meeting in Los Angeles.

Wasserman said at that time these funds came from the IOC’s contribution of television rights and sponsorship fees, LA28’s own sponsorships and licensing and merchandising sales (and guarantees) and hospitality sales guarantees. Actual ticket sales are still to come.

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The eight-year anniversary date of the 2017 award of the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad to Los Angeles is coming up on 13 September, and a quick look at the LA28 finances shows that it has spent – across its first six years – less than 10% of its planned $7.1 billion budget.

The International Olympic Committee has been a significant funder so far, with more coming.

Looking at the LA28 financial statements included in its annual report to the City of Los Angeles, spending as the organizing committee – not as the bid committee – began in 2018:

● 2018: $16.464 million in expenditures
● 2019: $23.413 million
● 2020: $36.493 million
● 2021: $93.243 million
● 2022: $142.592 million
● 2023: $156.647 million

That’s $468.852 million across the first six years of existence, and forecasting a $180 million cost for 2024, the seven-year total was likely about $648 million, or 9.1% of its latest $7.149.4 billion lifetime budget through 2028. (This is not all cash, as there are some modest amounts of non-cash expenditures, such as depreciation.)

In the spending are two large (really large) amounts which are not directly related to the work of organizing the Games. Those are the payments to the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department for the Youth Sports Partnership program that subsidizes participation in programs, and revenue-sharing payments to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as part of its United States Olympic & Paralympic Properties revenue-generating joint venture.

At the end of 2023:

● $120.076 million to the USOPC
● $34.836 million to the Youth Sports Partnership

The USOPC payments kicked in in 2021 and account for the huge jump in spending in that year from 2020, and LA28 will pay a total of $430 million to the USOPC by the end of the program in 2028, at $58 or $64 million per year.

The Youth Sports Partnership payments are also increasing, with $25.088 million advanced in 2024 and more than $33 million requested for 2025 and into 2026.

In the meantime, the IOC will pay the LA28 organizers $898 million in television rights fees sharing and an estimated $437 million for a share of its TOP sponsorship program, totaling a projected $1.335 billion. Some of that has been paid already, including $160 million in advance for the Youth Sports Partnership funding, per the IOC’s financial statements:

● 2018: $36.0 million
● 2019: $36.0 million
● 2020: $36.0 million
● 2021: $36.0 million
● 2022: $36.0 million
● 2023: $36.262 million
● 2024: $34.900 million

That’s $251.162 million advanced by the IOC, against a $1.335 billion total, or about 18.8%. Of this, $167.895 million has come from advances against the $898 million for television rights sales, and just $14.817 million so far as a share of the TOP sponsorships.

So, there’s a lot more money coming from the IOC on the road to 2028, and LA28 has spent relatively little so far. But while more money is still to come in, the expenditures will leap, especially in the final 18 months from the start of 2027 through the 2028 Games.

But having 72% of its lifetime budget accounted for more than three years out is comforting, at least for now.

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