LOS ANGELES – California Governor Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown, Jr. today signed SB 1465 into law which would provide up to $250 million in state financial support as part of Los Angeles’ bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. While LA 2024 does not expect to expend these funds thanks to the city’s existing world-class sports, housing and transportation infrastructure that reduces the costs and risks of a Games in Los Angeles, the state support serves as a crucial show of support and unity behind bringing the Games to Los Angeles in 2024.
LA 2024’s fiscally responsible bid offers the same low cost and high revenue opportunities that generated a $232 million surplus at the LA 1984 Games, a portion of which funded the LA84 foundation that has provided sports programs for more than 3 million young Angelenos, including Venus and Serena Williams. In addition to existing venues and infrastructure that make the Games affordable, LA 2024 would generate substantial revenues from domestic sponsors and ticket sales from the world’s largest economy, in addition to the IOC’s $1.7 billion contribution from international broadcast and sponsorship revenues. LA 2024’s estimated budget will be included in its February 2017 submission to the IOC.
In the unlikely event of a cost overrun, the State of California’s “Olympic Games Trust Fund” established by the legislation would begin payments after LA 2024’s significant private insurance payouts have been exhausted and the City of Los Angeles contributes $250 million. The state’s financial support is consistent with its longstanding practice of supporting California bid cities.
California is the world’s sixth largest economy, with a gross state product of $2.5 trillion in 2015, growing 4.1% from 2014 adjusted for inflation. In August, California added 63,100 new jobs, representing 42% of the total number of new jobs added in the United States.
LA 2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman said: “On behalf of LA 2024, I would like to thank Governor Brown, Senate President Pro Tem De Leon, Assembly Speaker Rendon and the entire California legislature for their continued leadership in supporting LA 2024 as we leverage the best California has to offer, from Hollywood to Silicon Valley, to create a New Games for a new era. The state’s financial support underscores the united support behind bringing the Games back to LA, but also confidence in our city’s ability to host a fiscally responsible Games that is high-tech, low-risk and sustainable and would allow us to spend the years leading up to 2024 focusing on creating the best possible experience for athletes, fans and all other members of the Olympic family. With only temporary venues to build and existing high-quality housing facilities for an Olympic Village that currently serves over 16,000 residents at UCLA, the City of Angels is Games-ready with the Olympic Movement in our DNA. We are proud to be California’s bid and America’s bid to bring the Games back to the United States for the first time in 28 years.”
The state’s financial support is the latest show of government support for LA 2024’s bid to bring the Games to the City of Angels following the enthusiastic endorsement of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in September 2015, a bipartisan US Senate and House resolution supporting LA’s bid in July 2016, and the bid’s close working relationship across federal, state and local government agencies. Along with the bid’s strong political backing, a poll conducted in January and February of 2016 by Loyola Marymount University shows that 88% of Los Angeles residents support hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024.
