Organizers of Los Angeles’ bid for the 2024 Olympics on Friday unveiled an updated budget, vowing to deliver the Games within a US$5.3 billion price tag.
Bid chiefs said the LA 2024 plan would require “no surprises” and would benefit from more than 30 competition and non-competition venues that are already built or are planned by private investors.
The plan revised an initial budget announced in August last year which projected a US$161 million surplus. No surplus was projected in the new budget, but organizers said a contingency fund of US$491.9 million would be available.
Photo: AP
“The people of Los Angeles and the Olympic family can be assured that the budget we release today reflects accurately the cost of delivering LA 2024’s plan for a fiscally responsible Games that provides only upsides — economic, social and sporting — for our city and for the Olympic movement,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement. “Instead of mortgaging our futures on unknowable construction costs, our Games will capitalize responsibly on investments that are already transforming our city for the future.”
The budget announcement came amid concerns within the Olympic movement about the cost of staging the four-yearly sports spectacular.
Tokyo’s preparations for the 2020 Games have been dogged by rows over the budget, with some warnings suggesting the final bill could hit a staggering US$30 billion — four times the initial estimate.
The total cost for this year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics also went over budget, with a final price tag of about US$12 billion.
Los Angeles officials maintain that their 2024 bid can be delivered for a fraction of those costs and on time, because their plan makes use of existing sports venues that are either ready for use or only require upgrades.
Other traditionally expensive Olympic costs, such as construction of the athletes village, will also be avoided because of plans to use the facilities of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) campus.
“By using the existing state-of-the-art housing, dining and training facilities at UCLA, LA 2024 can simultaneously guarantee an outstanding level of service for the athletes of the world and eliminate a significant drain on Games resources,” International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission chair and LA 2024 chief strategy officer Angela Ruggiero said. “The facilities and workforce are already in place.”
Los Angeles is battling Paris and Budapest for the right to host the Games, with the IOC due to choose the hosts at a meeting in Lima in September.
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