Imperfect Paradise: Who pays for the 2028 Olympics? LA taxpayers may be on the hook

Norco 80

LAist Studios

True Crime

4.2 • 887 Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In less than a thousand days, Los Angeles will be hosting the summer Olympics. Many cities worldwide have been put into debt by the games, so what could they mean for Los Angeles? LAist reporter Libby Rainey joins Imperfect Paradise to look back at the history of the games when LA last hosted them, the financial outlook for the city, and what role the federal government might play.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Los Angeles hosted the Olympic Games back in 1932 and 1984.
0:05.1	Both times the city made money, but there could be a very different financial impact in 2028.
0:10.6	Listen to the Imperfect Paradise podcast, a weekly news magazine from LAist.
0:15.0	I'm Gab Chabran, Food and Culture Rider at LAIS.
0:18.2	Join me Thursday, November 13th for Cookbook Live with chef Roy Choi.
0:22.1	We'll explore his journey from street food to storytelling and share a bite together along the way.
0:27.1	Tickets available at LAIS.com slash events.
0:30.5	You're listening to Imperfect Paradise. I'm Nereida Moreno filling in for host Antonia Serejido.
0:36.2	This week, we're talking about the Olympics. In less than a thousand days, the Olympic and Paralympic Games are coming to Los Angeles in the summer of 28, and the stakes for the city are high.
0:49.6	The Olympic Games have been notorious in recent years for costing taxpayers billions of dollars
0:55.0	and leaving some host cities and countries in debt.
0:58.8	L.A. Olympic organizers and politicians say they're confident Los Angeles can buck that trend
1:03.8	because it's been done before. In 1932, Olympics at Los Angeles.
1:09.7	The scene is the Coliseum and the world's outstanding athletes are here.
1:13.2	And in 1984.
1:15.3	Once it was a village slumbering in the hot sun of Southern California, then came the movies,
1:20.3	and the city of the Queen of the Angels began to sprawl across the landscape from the ocean to the desert.
1:25.0	And today, for the second time in its history, Los Angeles
1:28.1	welcomed the athletes of the world for the Summer Olympics. Both times LA played host in the past,
1:34.2	the Olympics managed to make rather than lose money. So what's the outlook for 2028 here in
1:39.6	L.A.? How does it relate to the history of the games here and elsewhere? And what does it mean that the city of Los Angeles is the financial backstop for the games?
1:48.0	What happens if things go wrong?
	...

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