4 days ago
LA 2028 Olympic organizers offer venue naming rights to bring in revenue
In what's being called "the largest commercial revenue raise in sports," the LA28 Olympic organizing committee announced on Thursday that sponsors can purchase naming rights of competition venues.
LA28 Organizers said it's the first time in Olympic and Paralympic Games that such a bid has been undertaken, and it's part of the committee's mission to keep the Games fully privately funded with no new builds.
It's billed as an opportunity to bring multiple millions to the 2028 Games and LA28 Chairperson and President, Casey Wasserman called the first-ever Olympic venue naming rights program historic.
"These groundbreaking partnerships with Comcast and Honda, along with additional partners to come, will not only generate critical revenue for LA28 but will introduce a new commercial model to benefit the entire Movement," he said.
Honda already has naming rights for the volleyball arena in Anaheim, and Comcast acquired the rights to a temporary squash venue.
Under the new pilot program, qualifying LA28 partners will have the opportunity to keep existing venue naming rights during Games time, as well as secure additional marketing assets to significantly bolster their activation efforts.
"We're a private enterprise responsible for delivering these games," Wasserman said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It's my job to push. That doesn't mean we're going to win every time we push, but it's our job to always push because our context is pretty unique."
Also, the opportunity for naming rights of up to 19 temporary venues will become available to Worldwide Olympic & Paralympic Games partners and LA28 partners.
The naming rights for iconic venues like the Rose Bowl, LA Coliseum, or Dodger Stadium will not be for sale, and International Olympic Committee rules still apply for advertising on the field of play -- it's forbidden.
