OLYMPICS: LA28 to study Los Angeles World Cup matches as Olympic test case, CEO says

Los Angeles Olympic organizers will use the city’s 2026 FIFA World Cup matches as a key opportunity to test transportation, security, and crowd management systems ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, LA28 Chief Executive Officer Reynold Hoover said.

Los Angeles is set to host eight World Cup matches at SoFi Stadium, giving Olympic planners a chance to evaluate how the region handles a major international sporting event before welcoming thousands of athletes and millions of visitors for the 2028 Games.

“It gives us an opportunity to look at transportation, security, and how fans are moving around,” Hoover told Reuters. “For us, we can take that and then scale it.”

Hoover noted that the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics will involve approximately 15,000 athletes competing across 50 venues, making it one of the most complex sporting events ever organized.

He said LA28 has established a strong working relationship with FIFA and expects valuable lessons from the World Cup to help shape Olympic preparations.

The comments came after a three-day visit by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission to Los Angeles, where officials reviewed progress on planning and operations for the Games.

According to Hoover, the IOC examined several areas, including venue readiness, operational plans, community engagement, economic impact, sustainability initiatives, and the Olympic torch relay.

“The level of excitement is electric,” Hoover said. “Having the IOC here and hearing their assessment gives me even more confidence that we’re going to deliver a Games like none other.”

Hoover acknowledged that the biggest challenge remains the scale of the event. The Los Angeles Games will feature 36 sports and more than 800 medal events, making them the largest Olympics ever in terms of programming.

“No one has done an Olympics of this size, scale, and scope,” Hoover said. “There’s no book that we can go to.”

To prepare, organizers are studying the experiences of recent and future Olympic hosts, including Paris 2024, Milano Cortina 2026, Brisbane 2032, and Utah 2034.

Several key milestones are also approaching. National Olympic Committees are expected to visit Los Angeles next month to inspect competition venues, the Olympic Village, accommodation sites, and airport arrival operations.

Broadcast partners and media representatives are also scheduled to visit as organizers continue refining plans for global coverage of the Games.

Hoover said the next release of Olympic tickets is planned for August following strong initial demand. Paralympic ticket sales, along with the unveiling of the Games mascot, torch design, and torch relay details, are expected in 2027.

The Olympic torch relay will travel through all 50 U.S. states over 100 days, beginning in April 2028 and concluding in Los Angeles on July 14, 2028, the day of the Olympic opening ceremony. -Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Stephen Coates/Reuters