The Los Angeles City Council agreed Friday to venue guarantees needed for the bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
The city’s latest bid package includes updated details and commitments from venues including the Riviera Country Club, the Long Beach Arena and Convention Center, and the Honda Center in Anaheim.
The Los Angeles 2024 bid committee is getting ready to submit the second package of materials due to the International Olympic Committee on Oct. 7.
LA 2024 is competing with bid committees in Paris and Budapest, Hungary, to bring the Olympics to Los Angeles.
This week, the committee secured a promise from the state to provide $250 million in back-up funds to cover any cost overruns.
The city will need to make its own financial guarantees for cost overruns in the final host city contract that must be signed at the end of the bid process.
Council President Herb Wesson said the state’s guarantee would signal to the IOC that “not only is this the city of Los Angeles or the L.A. County region, but that we also have the support of the governor and our colleagues in the state.
“I think that’s important especially when you look at some of the competitors that are having challenges trying to bring together a consensus,” he said.
Wesson may be referring to Rome’s bid, which ended earlier this month after the mayor refused to support the bid, citing financial concerns.
Most of the guarantees in the package do not legally require City Council approval, according to the city attorney, and only need signatures from the council president and mayor.
The council only needed to sign off on guarantees for city-owned venues, today agreeing with previous decisions by the Recreation and Parks and Tourism departments to allow Olympics events to be hosted at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Sepulveda Basin and Woodley Lakes Golf Course, and other sites.
A third and final application package that goes into detail about the budget for the Games is due next year, with the IOC scheduled to make a decision by late 2017.
City officials said they will retain an independent expert, paid for by LA 2024, to delve more deeply into the finances and budget for hosting the Olympics.
Bid officials estimate the Games would cost about $6 billion, which can be covered with sponsorships, broadcasting rights, ticket sales and other forms of revenue.
— City News Service