Imperfect Paradise: 'Astronomical' LA28 Olympics ticket prices have shocked fans. But could a more expensive games benefit taxpayers?
California City
LAist Studios
4.5 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 17 April 2026
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Despite an initial promise that LA Olympic events would start at $28, tickets for the games are costing fans hundreds to thousands of dollars. LAist Olympics reporter Libby Rainey joins us to discuss why the ticket prices are so expensive, what they can tell us about the money behind the games and who might stand to benefit – or lose – from the Olympics coming to LA.
Read Libby’s full report at LAist.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Support for LAST comes from Pasadena Water and Power. |
| 0:03.1 | PWP now offers commercial and residential customers rebates on solar power systems and battery energy storage systems. |
| 0:10.0 | Learn more about the program and how to apply at pwb.com slash solar. |
| 0:16.0 | Wondering what's happening with those ballot measures you voted on in the last election? |
| 0:19.8 | We've got you covered with Make It Make Sense, our elections newsletter. We'll check in on what voters passed |
| 0:24.3 | and whether elected officials are living up to their campaign promises. Sign up at |
| 0:28.0 | at alias.com slash vote. This is in Perfect Paradise. I'm your host, Nereida Moreno. |
| 0:36.7 | It's the moment Olympics and sports fans have been waiting years for. |
| 0:41.2 | Tickets for L.A.'s Olympic Games are finally on sale. |
| 0:44.5 | We had four different family members sign up, attempting to get tickets. |
| 0:48.2 | Locals got first dibs earlier this month. |
| 0:50.9 | Every one of us signed up in order to be able to get a slot. |
| 0:54.2 | Within minutes, the frenzy began. |
| 0:56.5 | When I looked at gymnastics, the starting was like $1,100. |
| 1:01.2 | And that was just for preliminaries. |
| 1:05.5 | Green shots of shopping carts with tickets worth thousands of dollars were everywhere. |
| 1:10.1 | And so, too too were the complaints. |
| 1:11.6 | The cost was just so astronomical. |
| 1:14.6 | Two years before the games are even set to arrive in LA, ticket prices have sparked big questions about the upcoming Olympics. |
| 1:20.6 | The thing that upset me the most, is everybody advertised this as accessible? |
| 1:32.5 | This week on Imperfect Paradise, we explore who are the games really for, |
| 1:38.2 | who ultimately stands to benefit or potentially lose and at what cost. |
... |
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