Organizers of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles proposed site and planning plan changes for the Games, including swimming in an NFL stadium for the first time in Olympic history.
LA28 is proposing to hold Olympic swimming at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, home of the Rams and Chargers. With 38,000 seats, it would be the largest capacity Olympic swimming venue in history.
The Olympic swimming would take place in a temporary stadium built on Dedeaux Field, USC’s baseball stadium. That site will no longer be available for the 2028 Games due to upgrades.
Gymnastics would move from the Forum in Inglewood to Crypto.com Arena, home of the Los Angeles Lakers, Sparks and Kings.
Basketball would be held at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, which will be the Clippers’ new home starting next season.
Track and field remains at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which also hosted track and field during the 1932 and 1984 LA Games.
In total, the proposed changes would save more than $150 million. The city of Los Angeles has yet to approve changes that would move events outside city limits from the previous site plan.
“LA28’s venue moves and reliance on existing stadiums make the Games more sustainable; improve the playing field and warm-up areas for athletes; improve seating, hospitality, services and capacity for more fans; place matches in the hands of experienced venue operators and staff to ensure smooth delivery and operations; provides opportunities in the city of Los Angeles,” according to a press release.
All proposed venue changes were assessed in consultation with the respective international sports federations, such as World Aquatics for swimming. The Board of Governors of the International Olympic Committee has approved venue allocations for Olympic sports.
Changes to Paralympic sports venues, including moving swimming from Dedeaux Field to Long Beach, must be approved by the International Paralympic Committee Board of Directors.
The announcement of the LA28 location came Friday during the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, which will be held at an NFL venue for the first time at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The trials have attracted a record number of visitors, more than 20,000.
SoFi Stadium and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will still co-host the 2028 Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies as previously planned.
To accommodate location changes, swimming will shift from the first week to the second week of the Games in the Olympic schedule. Athletics moves from the second week to the first week. World Aquatics and World Athletics approve and support the schedule change.
Additionally, softball and canoe slalom will be held at existing locations in Oklahoma City rather than adding construction projects to build temporary locations in Southern California.
“Although Southern California has more professional and collegiate sports venues than any area in the United States, there is no canoe slalom venue locally (or anywhere in the Western US), and the largest softball venue in Southern California hosts fewer than 2,000 people, which does not meet the expected spectator demand for softball at the Olympic Games,” LA28 said.
Oklahoma City hosted a leg of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Canoe Slalom Trials at the Riversport venue.
For softball, Devon Park in Oklahoma City is the annual host of the NCAA Women’s College World Series. Softball was added to the 2028 Olympic program last October, along with baseball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash.
It is common for some Olympic competitions to be held outside the main host area.
For the 1984 LA Games, some preliminary football games were held in Boston and Annapolis, Maryland. In 1996, softball was held in Columbus, Georgia, 100 miles southwest of Atlanta. For the Paris Games this summer there is surfing in Tahiti and sailing in Marseille.
