politicians and businessmen is whether or not we should host the 2016 Olympics. Just like the saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Los Angeles needs to start planning more than 10 years in advance of the spectacle to even be considered a candidate city. This past Thursday and Friday, the United States Olympic Committee's evaluation team inspected potential sporting venues in Los Angeles. The picture to the right shows the flamboyant mayor Antonio Villaraigosa addressing his Olympic visitors. Without wasting any words, the mayor cut to the chase by proclaiming, “This is where the stars are born, where dreams are made and where the whole world comes together, because no city inspires dreams quite like the city of Los Angeles.” After listening to the sales pitch, the Olympic team will move on to Chicago for a similar reception. If all goes well, Los Angeles will be selected as the US Olympic site candidate on April 14. The following pros and cons have been made among news reporters and journalists on whether or not Los Angeles should host the Olympics in 2016.One of the most important benefits for hosting the Olympic Games in Los Angeles is the expected flow of money into the city’s coffers via tourists and sponsorships. The 1984 Olympics generated over $200 Million in revenues. Assuming an annual inflation rate of 5%, a similar monetary success story could result in over $850 Million. Of course, we would need to select an entrepreneur like Peter Ueberroth to marshal the financial planning and execution of the 2016 Olympics to guarantee success. Today, Los Angeles is famous for it entertainment, technology, and sports environments. In order to maintain this leadership position in sports, we need to attract and promote mega events like the X Games, Super Bowl, NBA All Star Game, and BCS finale. What world event could be bigger in sports than the Olympics? With the improvement in Internet broadband services and inclusion of professional athletes, watching the Olympics is a necessity for every sport’s aficionado on our planet. While holding this mega event will attract huge revenues to our city, we need an environment that is conducive to many of the outdoor events. Summer weather in Los Angeles is hard to beat anywhere else in the world. The cool breezes at night from the Pacific Ocean offsets the warm Santa Ana winds from the deserts. Because of Los Angeles’ temperate climate conditions, it is an ideal venue for outdoor
sports. I have spent many nights at Dodger stadium enjoying the action as if I was inside an air-conditioned theater. Although there will be a significant investment to upgrade existing facilities, the infrastructure to support multiple Olympic venues has already been developed from the 1984 games. Los Angeles is world renown for its sport’s stadiums that include baseball’s Dodger Stadium and Edison Field, football’s Coliseum and Rose Bowl, basketball’s Staple Center and Pauley Pavilion, and soccer’s Home Depot Center. The Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games (SCCOG) has estimated it will cost $112 Million to renovate the Coliseum as shown in the figure to the left. Besides these major sports complexes within the Los Angeles area, the local universities provide excellent settings for individual sport’s competitions like wrestling, boxing, fencing, and equestrian contests. If anyone would try to challenge our city’s ability to host all the Olympic events, we would only have to point to the past successes of the 1932 and 1984 Games.Critics opposed to the 2016 Olympics in Los Angeles usually point to the risk of the city absorbing a huge loss like Montreal did in 1976. But much of Montreal’s financial downfall can be traced to poor planning and lack of management skills. Los Angeles learned in 1984 that sound financial backing is essential for the health of the games and does not intend to burden the public with tax payments that have haunted the city of Montreal for over 30 years. A lesser argument for not holding the Olympics in Los Angeles concerns fairness. Since Los Angeles has hosted this worldwide event twice in the past 100 years, other cities should be given a chance. But if the choice of the Games goes to the best-qualified city, then Los Angeles should be judged on an equal basis as the other competing metropolises. Barry Sanders, chairman of the SCCOG best summarizes the reason for bringing the Olympics back to Los Angeles, “It's the city that has the Olympic ideal in its DNA. Los Angeles is emblematic of the Olympic dream, achieving, coming here to achieve your goals.”
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