There are still four years remaining until the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles – a long time to prepare for this international sporting event – but local organizers appear to have taken a step back this week.
The privately run LA28 committee announced in a brief statement that it had “decided to part ways amicably” with one of its largest sponsors in Salesforce, the customer relations software company.
It was not clear where this disconnect left organizers in their stated quest to attract $2.5 billion in sponsorships. They previously generated about $1 billion of that total and were optimistic about landing several new deals this month.
Although one such partnership was announced on Tuesday, LA28 declined to say how much it would receive in exchange for signing with Guild, which helps companies provide career and educational assistance to employees.
LA28 now has just two corporate sponsors – Comcast and Delta Air Lines – and there is a lot of work to be done to cover the estimated $6.9 billion cost of the 2028 Olympics.
This effort will include additional revenue sources, including ticket sales, promotion and billions of dollars from the International Olympic Committee. Taking into account some of this money, LA28 says it has secured 65% of the total funding requested.
But if regulators fail, local and state lawmakers have agreed to make up the difference with taxpayer money.
This week, it was reported that the budget for the upcoming Paris Olympics in 2024 has increased to nearly $10 billion, with French taxpayers expected to foot about $3.25 billion of that bill.
