Santa Monica and LA28 fail to reach agreement on Olympic beach volleyball venue
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One of the cornerstones in LA28’s Olympic venue plan has fallen through.
Santa Monica officials announced Tuesday that formal talks with the organizing committee for the 2028 Games about hosting Olympic beach volleyball have ended.
Santa Monica State Beach was tabbed to be the L.A. home for Olympic beach volleyball since the organizing committee’s first bid in 2016. But when city officials and LA28 could not reach an agreement about community benefits, operational details and financial guarantees, LA28 informed Santa Monica last week that it will pursue a new venue to host the event, which has become one of the premier sports of the Summer Games.
After getting several new sites approved through a Los Angeles City Council vote last month, the committee is expected to reveal an updated venue proposal to the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday.
The Rose Bowl announced it is hosting 2028 Olympics soccer finals on the same day an L.A. City Council committee approved an adjusted venues plan.
“There is no better place to host the Olympic beach volleyball competition than Santa Monica, where the sport was born. We would have loved to be a venue city in 2028,” Santa Monica Mayor Lana Negrete said in a statement. “While we’re disappointed that an agreement was not realized, we remain eager to share in the excitement the Olympics will bring to our region and are looking forward to being a regional partner in this historic event.”
A study released in October on the economic impacts of hosting the Olympic competition in Santa Monica found that being a venue city would result in a net loss of $1.45 million for Santa Monica while not hosting the beach volleyball competition could still generate $10.65 million in profit because of the city’s status as a popular tourist attraction.
Santa Monica could still be involved in the United States’ first Summer Games since 1996 by hosting hospitality houses for visiting countries, broadcast centers, practice venues or watch parties.
LA28 has already worked with other cities to finalize venue plans outside of Los Angeles, including playing soccer medal matches at the Rose Bowl and creating multisport attractions in Long Beach and Carson.
Long Beach will host seven sports and Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson will host four as part of an updated venue plan for the 2028 Olympics.
“Since the bid process, LA28 has sought to negotiate a Games Agreement exclusively with the City of Santa Monica to stage beach volleyball there,” an LA28 spokesperson told the Times in a statement. “Following a thorough evaluation and careful assessment, LA28 has decided to conclude its efforts with the City of Santa Monica. The process for Santa Monica to become a Venue City for the 2028 Games was consistent and in line with all other Venue City negotiations. LA28 remains confident that beach volleyball’s venue will be staged along the iconic Pacific coastline and deliver an incredible athlete and fan experience.”
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