Organizers of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles say they are on track to reach about $2 billion in secured corporate sponsorships by year’s end, moving them significantly closer to the $2.5 billion needed to help pay for the costly sporting event.
Their optimism stems from what they describe as increased interest from prospective sponsors in the six months since the wildly popular 2024 Paris Games.
“It would not surprise me if we do three or four [times] the sponsorship deals this year, from a dollar standpoint, than we did all of last year,” said John Slusher, chief executive of LA28’s commercial operation. “So business is just on fire.”
In the years since L.A. was selected as a host city, organizers have vowed to generate enough revenue to cover their projected $7-billion budget. Sponsorships would represent a major chunk of that total, with other funds coming from International Olympic Committee contributions, ticket sales and merchandising.
The likes of Nike and Delta signed major deals early on but, with the Games still years away and the global economy mired in a pandemic, announced sponsorships were stuck at about $1.5 billion.
Closing that gap will be crucial because city and state legislators have agreed to settle any Games debt with hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars.
It helps that Paris created a palpable buzz around the Olympic movement. And that the clock is ticking for L.A., with less than four years to go before a planned opening ceremony at the Coliseum and SoFi Stadium.
At a Tuesday meeting with existing sponsors in Hollywood, Slusher said he hopes to announce several new deals soon. The former Nike executive, who joined LA28 late last year, stopped short of making specific promises.
“Things could turn the other direction too,” he said. “So I think we’ll know a lot more in three months.”
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