The 2028 Olympics are coming to Los Angeles as a multi-billion dollar operation funded by massive private and federal government investments and backed by city and state pledges to cover cost overruns.
The current privately funded budget for the Games is more than $7 billion. The federal government has agreed to chip in $1 billion to pay for security and is being asked to contribute another $2 billion to pay for Games-specific transit plans.
But the city of L.A.'s financial exposure is essentially unlimited. The city is on the hook for the first $270 million in losses, if they occur. The California Legislature has agreed to make statewide taxpayers pick up the next $270 million. After that, any additional financial burden will fall on Los Angeles taxpayers.
Of course they will. Since the beginning, the Olympic Games have been a loss-bringer. Some pieces of infrastructure may remain and actually get useful, but look at any Olympic location four years later and see loads of unused and abandoned sport locations falling into disrepair.
The only waste of money bigger than Olympic Games is probably opera houses, and only because they continue to waste money continually and not just for one event…