SoFi Stadium, Intuit Dome among venues added to updated LA Olympic plan

LOS ANGELES — The LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games announced it has proposed the first series of updates to its venue plan Friday that includes swimming being held at SoFi Stadium, basketball being played across the street at Intuit Dome and gymnastics moving to Crypto.com Arena.

In addition, the plan would send softball and canoe slalom to Oklahoma City's complexes.

LA28’s previous venue plan was developed in 2017 when Los Angeles was bidding to host the Summer Olympics for the first time since 1984. Since then, several state-of-the-art stadiums and arenas have become available, a previously assigned venue has become unavailable and new sports have been added to the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Also, the International Olympic Committee developed a new policy to encourage Games organizers to prioritize using existing or temporary venues, even if they are located outside of the host city. 

“The Olympic and Paralympic Games represent the pinnacle of athletic competition and achievement, and we’re proud to host the Los Angeles 2028 Games in some of the greatest stadiums and arenas ever built,” LA28 Chairperson and President Casey Wasserman said. “LA28’s updated venue plan will provide the ideal Hollywood stage for the world’s top athletes, and choosing from spectacular existing venues, wherever they are, rather than building new permanent or temporary stadiums, achieves more than $150 million in savings and new revenue to help maintain a balanced budget.

"We look forward to partnering with these venues, and their experienced operators and workforce, to deliver an unparalleled experience for athletes and fans in 2028.” 

Under the updated venue plan, some of the most popular Olympic competitions will be held in several well-known venues. Gymnastics will now be held at Crypto.com Arena, the recently renovated home of the NBA’s Lakers, NHL’s Kings and WNBA’s Sparks.

SoFi Stadium, the $5 billion home of NFL’s Rams and Chargers, which opened in 2020, will be turned into the largest swimming venue in Olympic history, with 38,000 seats. It will be following the configuration being used by Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, where the U.S. swimming trials are being held this week for next month's Paris Olympics.

Basketball will be held across the street at the new $2 billion Intuit Dome, which will open this summer and will be home to the NBA’s Clippers.

Athletics and para athletics will remain at the recently refurbished Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, making it the only stadium to host track and field competitions in three Olympic Games.

LA28’s plans for opening and closing ceremonies are unchanged, with parts hosted at both the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium. Additionally, to accommodate these moves, World Athletics and World Aquatics, the governing bodies of track and swimming Olympic events, respectively, have approved LA28’s plan to adjust the traditional Olympic schedule.

Specifically, the 2028 Olympic Games track and field competition will move to the first week of the Olympic Games while the swimming competition will be held during the second week. Recent Olympic games have featured the opposite schedule.

In the updated venue plan, LA28 reaffirmed its commitment to the San Fernando Valley, which was not included in either the 1932 or 1984 Games. The Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area in the Valley will host Olympic competitions for BMX freestyle and BMX racing along with skateboarding park and street as well as archery for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

Diving will return to the 1932 Pool in Exposition Park, which hosted diving in the 1932 Summer Games. Long Beach will host artistic swimming and para swimming competitions along with several other sports that will be announced at a later date. 

While Southern California has more professional and collegiate sports venues than any area in the United States, there is no canoe slalom venue — or anywhere in the western United States — and the largest softball venue in Southern California seats fewer than 2,000 people, which does not meet the expected spectator demand.

Instead of building temporary venues, LA28 announced it will assign canoe salom and softball Oklahoma City. These assignments, they announced, "are also in alignment with the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020+5 recommendation, which emphasizes sustainability by encouraging the use of existing venues beyond the region of the host city. Both the canoe slalom and softball venues are built to international competition standards.

Equestrian and para equestrian competitions, previously assigned to the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, will be held at an existing facility in Temecula, that is the only such facility in Southern California large enough to accommodate all required disciplines in one location. Shooting and shooting para sport competitions, which were also previously assigned to Sepulveda, will be assigned to one of two possible sport shooting clubs to be determined outside of Los Angeles. 

LA28 submitted these updated venue assignments to Los Angeles, which must approve competitions that move outside of the city’s boundaries from the venue plan submitted during the bid.

Moving out of the City of Los Angeles (requires City approval) 

• Olympic Swimming to Inglewood 
• Paralympic Swimming to Long Beach  
• Olympic Artistic Swimming to Long Beach 
• Olympic Basketball to Inglewood 
• Olympic Canoe Slalom to the City of Oklahoma City 
• Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian to Temecula 
• Olympic and Paralympic Shooting to existing venue outside of Los Angeles  

Moving into the City of Los Angeles (does not require City approval) 

• Olympic Diving to existing venue in Los Angeles 
• Olympic and Paralympic Archery to the Sepulveda Basin 
• Olympic BMX Freestyle to the Sepulveda Basin 
• Olympic BMX Racing to the Sepulveda Basin 
• Olympic Gymnastics (Artistic, Rhythmic, Trampoline) to Downtown Los Angeles 
• Olympic Skateboarding Park to the Sepulveda Basin 
• Olympic Skateboarding Street to the Sepulveda Basin