The Olympic Games are coming back to the States. However, Americans must wait five more Olympics before a torch is lit on American soil.
The announcement came in under the radar last week. Without the usual pomp, circumstance and calls of corruption, host cities for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics were announced.
It comes as no surprise that Paris and Los Angeles were selected to host the Summer Games. While both were originally in consideration for the 2024 date, both were too strong. Their strength forced the International Olympic Committee (IOC) into a historic occurrence — giving out a pair of Games simultaneously.
Now, still a decade out from the first Olympic Games on American soil since Salt Lake City in 2002, all three parties have something at stake.
Paris easily has the most at stake, given the current climate in the city. Paris has been on high alert due to terrorism for around two years now, and the near future doesn’t see that changing.
Just as the Olympic delegation was arriving back in France after the vote in Peru, a soldier at the Chatelet Metro Station was attacked by a man wielding a knife. It was reported that the attacker shouted references to the Islamic State.
Security will be the biggest concern for Paris, but they have shown that they can put on world class events without problems.
The Tour de France has not had any issues when it comes safety, nor has the UEFA European Championship, with both events ranking highly when it comes to the title of “largest sporting event in the world.”
The situation feels very similar to another modern Olympics. Security concerns were very present in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, but those games went off without issue.
One early difference between the two regards the budgeting for the Games. The preliminary budget for security in Paris is an estimated $229 million, a similar amount that London had at the same stage. However, London ended up increasing that number to around $1 billion.
This leads to what the IOC has at stake — the cost of hosting the Olympics.
Russia spent a record $51 billion on the Winter Games in Sochi in 2014. Brazil had a budget of $4.6 billion for the 2016 Summer Olympics, despite an original budget of $2.8 billion for the games itself, along with another $11.1 billion for non-Olympic investments, such as infrastructure and environmental management.
Nations now feel like the cost of staging the Olympics is too high, with not enough in return. The Sochi Olympics reported a $53 million profit, a profit that is a coin flip for hosts to see in the first place.
The French and Americans did not fear that, however, and believed they could do it for less. The cost effectiveness of the Games was a key talking point and perhaps the biggest reason both bids won.
Paris proposed a budget from the Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games of $4.1 billion. Los Angeles came in at $5.3 billion. Both bid books considered the budget low risk.
Paris is planning on building just a pair of permanent venues. Paris Arena II is already in the works, and a new Aquatics Center would be the only Games specific venue.
Los Angeles will also utilize current (in 2028) facilities and will require no new permanent venues.
If these two cities can show that hosting doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, the IOC could have a larger pool of host cities to choose from moving forward. It is worth noting that both cities have a high amount of existing sporting facilities, amounts that are hard for any city to match.
The IOC also runs the risk of awarding both Games at once backfiring. Should something happen to either Olympics at risk, then putting faith in cities this far out could come back to haunt the IOC.
As for Los Angeles, the stakes are not extraordinarily high currently. Being 11 years out, so much can change before the start of the Olympics, for better or worse.
At its current face value, it comes down to the unity of the United States. It does not take a microscope to see the divide stretching across this country.
Thankfully, one of the largest reasons for this divide shouldn’t be an issue in 2028, barring some real Frank Underwood schemes. Other issues will remain, but there always will be.
Large sporting events can bring people together, such as Euro 2016 in France. They can also expand the division, such as the run up to Rio 2016.
There is plenty of time, and plenty of hope, that the 2028 Olympics will be a great event.