The Los Angeles bid for the 2024 Olympic Games took one more big step forward today, with the City Council voting to back the bid in a unanimous decision.
The council voted 15-0 to give mayor Eric Garcetti authorization to make agreements with the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) involving an Olympic bid. With the USOC already reaching a reported agreement earlier this week (per the L.A. Times) both sides appear to be in lockstep for a last-minute entry into the Olympic hosting race.
The biggest issue with making Olympic bids has been the high costs associated with hosting an Olympic Games. The former USOC bid, Boston, bowed out of the process when citizens and local officials balked at the required costs. That paved the way for L.A., previously eliminated from contention when Boston was selected in early 2015, to jump back into the race.
The city council made clear that their vote was merely to allow conversation about an Olympic bid, and didn’t officially commit any taxpayer money anywhere.
“This is the engagement, not the wedding,” Council President Herb Wesson said in a piece by the local NBC affiliate.
The Los Angeles bid still has work to do to get organized by the September 15 deadline for submitting a bid to the USOC, but so far, the major hurdles are being cleared with ease.
ocean sports, triathlon, volleyball, and many other olympic sports. You have many professional sports teams here. So why not a joint bid between San Diego and Orange county? We don’t have all the gangs, racial and socioeconomic divisions, lowlife and police brutality of LA here. The beaches, towns and the people are beautiful. Brian, we (San Diego) are also the craft beer capital of the world! That should put us over the top. So San Diego-Orange County joint bid for 2024.
USOC was seriously considering a joint bid between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. Very bad idea for many obvious reasons but why not a joint bid with Orange County? San Diego and Orange county are a stronghold of athletics including aquatics,
I’d prefer to see a joint bid by San Diego and Orange county actually. LA sucks
Personally, I think Orange County sucks. But neither of us have given one reason as to why our opinion has any validity whatsoever. Be concrete. Use examples. Compare LA to somewhere else, using specific differences. You’ve posted twice without giving any reasons for anyone to believe your argument.
Great decision by the USOC.
LA is the one of the 4-5 cities in the world (along with Atlanta, Beijing, London, and maybe one more) that could realistically host the Summer Olympics without it turning into a logistical or cost nightmare.
Can LA afford it? I agree Hank
Hank that’s somewhat insulting. We are not a poor excuse for a city by any means.
I live and work in Los Angeles and it is a beautiful city with first class sports facilities and a solid infrastructure.
I believe Los Angeles could host the Olympics better than any place in the world and quite frankly I feel the athletes and guests would be more secure here than anywhere.
You should come and visit and see for yourself. The beaches and water is beautiful this time of year and the weather is perfect.
There are two sides to California. A state that contains the most beautiful natural resources in the US and a state that is on the verge of bankruptcy that is slowly eroding the place.
Los Angeles is a poor excuse for a city these days. I would rather see it go abroad to a new location.
I do agree that California is a mess by American standards. Sure the natural resources are beautiful, but the state is a financial mess brought upon by the “leaders” of the state over the past couple of decades. Now they are in a severe drought and begging the Pacific Northwest states for water.
With that being said most of these countries cannot afford the spectacle that is the Olympics and LA is laid out well to host it.