OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Officials in charge of the 2028 Summer Olympics selected two Oklahoma City sports venues for Olympic competitions, but Los Angeles city officials must give final approval before those events can be held in OKC, according to Mayor David Holt.
Holt and Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Chairwoman Teresa Rose held a news conference on Thursday, a week after Olympics officials assigned women’s softball and Canoe Slalom competitions to Oklahoma City.
“The reaction to the news in OKC has been nothing short of euphoric. I have had the opportunity to experience these emotions,” said Holt, a lifelong Oklahoma City resident. “For a kid who grew up in OKC, the prospect of our city hosting LA28 Olympic events is amazing and historic. Words just can’t do it justice.”
Los Angeles will be the host city of the 2028 Olympic Games, which are being referred to as LA28. However, despite having more professional and collegiate sports venues than any area in the United States, Southern California lacks a Canoe Slalom venue and does not have a softball venue that seats more than 2,000 people. Oklahoma City has been tapped to host the Canoe Slalom and softball competitions, according to Olympics officials.
The Canoe Slalom competitions will be held at Riversport OKC’s whitewater rafting courses, while the softball games will be held at Devon Park, if the L.A. City Council approves the Olympic venue plan.
“Instead of undertaking additional construction projects to build temporary venues for these sports, LA28 will assign Canoe Slalom and Softball competitions to the world-class venues in Oklahoma City,” Olympic officials said. “Both the Canoe Slalom and softball venues in Oklahoma City are built to international competition standards, ensuring a high-quality experience for athletes and fans, while allowing LA28 to realize cost savings and revenue gains to support its balanced budget.”
Conversations that led to the selection of the Oklahoma City venues began in 2018 with then-Mayor Eric Garcetti, and have continued with Mayor Karen Bass, the city’s current leader.
“We have a great respect for the global capital that is Los Angeles, and we have full confidence that L.A. will deliver the greatest Summer Olympics in the history of the games. We would have been proud to simply share a country with such a city, but we have the opportunity to do more than that. We get to directly support L.A. and its work for years from now, and that is something we are very excited to do,” Holt said. “We are inspired by LA’s careful planning and vision for the 2028 Summer Olympics, and we look forward to partnering with LA28 to deliver a dynamic experience for the athletes and fans of Canoe Slalom and softball. We guarantee that our city will deliver a special, unique and memorable experience worthy of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.”
The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber will lead OKC’s part of the Olympic effort.
“The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber has been a strong, strategic and trusted partner of the city for many years, and I believe that we are uniquely equipped and positioned to lead our community on this effort,” Rose said. “This would be a significant partnership with LA28 to create a dynamic environment for athletes in these two sports, to create an experience in a competition in world class venues in an environment fitting of Olympic athletes.”
Partnership will underpin the Greater OKC Chamber’s Olympic efforts, according to Rose.
“The City of Oklahoma City, the two venues and actually numerous other community partners will be critical to our success. Once approved, we will develop a detailed plan of the execution that meets all of the needs and the requirements of LA28 partner,” she said. “This is a tremendous opportunity to bring attention to our city from around the world, and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this success.”
Having Olympic games held in the Oklahoma City venues are in accordance with the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020+5 recommendation which emphasizes sustainability by encouraging the use of existing venues beyond the host city’s region
“LA28 also recognizes that the Oklahoma City community has consistently supported top events for both sports and is confident that they will for these Olympic competitions as well,” Olympic officials said.
The LA28 Olympics will be held over a two-week period, for which 200,000 tickets will be sold in Oklahoma City.
Holt said he foresees the Olympics fostering significant economic benefits that will result in growth, new jobs and hopefully new businesses. But he said research has not yet been conducted to explore those potential benefits.
Holt said while preparation for the event over the next four years might create some cost for local taxpayers, the event itself will bring large revenue streams into the city.
“What cost there is will be far offset by both the economic activity of the events themselves. Also, just the elevation of the community that’s going to occur as a result of this – that will be a legacy that will last for decades to come,” Holt said.
