World Cup gives Los Angeles a chance to showcase Olympic readiness

All eyes will be on the World Cup host cities this summer, but perhaps none more so than Los Angeles, which is also preparing to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.

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Not only will greater L.A. host eight games in the men’s soccer tournament, but the U.S. team will also play two of its group-stage games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, the first of which will be on June 12 against Paraguay. That weekend will serve as a launchpad for Los Angeles’ tournament-inspired events.

A $10 ticketed watch party at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum featuring brand activations will be the first of the city’s fan festival activities, Los Angeles host committee CEO Kathryn Schloessman told NBC News. After that, free events will be hosted throughout the area in designated “fan zones” such as Venice Beach, Union Station, downtown Burbank and Earvin “Magic” Johnson Park.

“We didn’t think in L.A., where everything is spread out, that it wasn’t important to us to bring everybody to the same place for 39 days,” Schloessman said. “It was more important about showcasing different parts of the community. So we’re kind of kicking off with the tentpole event, and then all the other events are happening within the community.”

No matter how many times someone has been to Los Angeles, Schloessman said, she hopes that the fan zones will “drive people to places that they wouldn’t have ordinarily gone to because they haven’t heard about it.”

Los Angeles has had something of a sports hosting marathon in recent years, with the Super Bowl, golf’s U.S. Open and the college football national championship all taking place there between 2022 and 2023. It’s all been building toward hosting two of the biggest sporting events in the world.

“We said, ‘OK, we’ve got this run of events, and it’s all leading to the road to ’28,’” Schloessman said. “So how do we make sure that we are building on it each time and we’re not starting over? And so we said, ‘Let’s use the same team of experts across each of these events so they learn something new each time.’ We’re building a better experience each time, and we’re using what we learned the last time.”

Public transit is one area where the World Cup will be a major preview for the Olympics, which organizers have said will be a “no car” event. The declaration has been met with skepticism, but Schloessman said she has full confidence in the shored-up L.A. Metro infrastructure ahead of this summer’s tournament.

Angelenos may understand that traffic is “part of our culture,” Schloessman said, but the Metro system will be on the world stage. The majority of the Los Angeles fan zones are accessible by public transit and fans are encouraged to “go Metro” on informational websites.

Ten regional transit partners are working with the L.A. Metro on increasing its services, which Schloessman noted included bringing in 300 shuttles to ensure people make it to games. And perhaps most importantly, fares will remain at their normal rate of $1.75 per ride — even when fans are headed to SoFi Stadium on game day.

“Our L.A. Metro group has really leaned in to make sure they’re delivering a good experience … because they know that they have an audience used to taking public transportation,” Schloessman said. “You know, L.A. residents are a bit of a car culture, but the visitors are not.”