Summer 2028: Will LA Be An Olympic Game(s)-Changer?

As the Olympic flame and sporting bon viveur fades into the background in Paris, there will be a period of reflection, celebration, and analysis before the rings are put into storage in Lausanne, ready for their next global assignment in 2026. In a 24/7 media world, everyone has an opinion on the Games - winners, losers, PR activations, celebrity endorsements, controversies, and everything in between. We’d like to take some of that energy and channel it, as we look ahead to the ‘next big one’. 

Learning and Reviving from Paris: A Blueprint for LA

How can, what will be a very different Summer Games, find its own niche and vibe on the West Coast of the USA while learning from the success of the Paris Games? Milan Cortina ‘26 will, of course, be a spectacle; however, generally speaking, it’s half the size in both athlete representation and sports rolled out, attracting reduced numbers of viewing figures in return.

Relatively fresh from the shadow cast upon the Tokyo Games by COVID in 2021, Paris revived the Olympic spirit. It was the first Games to have gender parity as well as clear and measurable objectives towards ethical food provision. Thanks to Top Olympic Partner (TOP), Alibaba, it was also the first Olympics to be broadcast in its entirety using the Cloud rather than satellites.

Experiential Marketing: A Game-Changer 

My main takeaway was the use of experiential marketing in not only brand campaigns but as a method to inform, include, and celebrate areas of the city that might otherwise have been ignored or excluded.

With literal boots on the ground, I travelled to all 20 arrondissements as well as the Seine-Saint-Denis area to the northeast of the city, where the Fête des Jeux was rolled out to great effect. 

In the Parc Georges Valbon for example, alongside the ubiquitous Games screenings and information, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) celebrated its French-African community with cultural displays and music.  In other areas of Saint Denis, the LOC created 3x3 basketball courts and climbing walls to encourage the diaspora to unite behind a common theme. 

The opportunity is there. Only time will tell whether the populus can be intertwined with the commercial vision of the Organising Committee.

Moving on to LA and writing this at a time before the 2024 US elections, the world seems to unite in its division rather than its unity. But if the LA Games can mirror what Paris established in its own way and with its own people, there will be significant socio-economic benefits. And while it’s easy to hypothesise what might happen in LA, there’s a myriad of inputs and expectations that will need to be taken into account.

Opportunities in Power of Storytelling

Something increasingly evident with contemporary sports events and the way brands invest is through storytelling coupled with experiential marketing. Paris and LA obviously contrast in many ways, and that’s something we should celebrate. But one of the key differences is pure scale - in space, infrastructure options, urban sprawl, population, and of course the much maligned traffic.

Parking the congestion for a second, LA will have a hyper-connected, sports mad, energetic fanbase, ready to go. With its franchise sports and Collegiate landscape, the frequency and depth of brand engagement will be more understood in LA, a massive plus for both brands and the Organising Committee. The Olympics is a slightly different beast and whilst US fans may be more open, the role of storytelling will be key in keeping it authentic, relevant, interesting and elevating messaging over others, one can imagine, to a well choreographed schedule

When we talk about attendee numbers, the size of the venues in LA will surpass previous games. The Coliseum and Rose Bowl combined boast a capacity of 170,000 for athletics and football respectively. Add in the 70,000 potential for swimming, and across three sports, 250,000 fans can be entertained concurrently. This creates a wealth of opportunities for strategic and engaging experiential marketing which can complement the integrated marketing programmes being conceived.

In Paris, fans were able to attend two, sometimes three events in one day. Fast forward four years, reliant on a bus network only, this must surely be a pipe dream. Flipping a negative into a positive, the US sport is often entertainment first, sport second and with increased dwell time before and after, we can hopefully expect the fan zones and brand activations to be dialled up to the max. Whilst Paris was amazing, in the grounds surrounding the actual sporting arena, there were comparatively few brand activations or engaging activities for fans, perhaps a missed opportunity to inform emotionally heightened fans and really ‘own the moment’.

A Shift to Personalisation in 2028

There isn’t, and never has been, a one size fits all to brand marketing. The democratisation of sport, particularly relevant to the Olympics, allows those from every walk of life to participate in the Olympic Festival. TOP and LOC Partners will know their specific audiences, however the opportunity to engage with subsets of chosen audiences and explore new ones is enormous. 

Looking at it in isolation, whereas once brands like Alibaba would communicate its products and services to tech decision makers behind closed doors, a new world order throws these doors open to all manner of potential influencers, adopters, consumers and critics; a cohesive but flexible message therefore is key to permeating the enjoyment of fans attending LA28. 

Similarly when we look at scale and opportunity, if we look at current Olympic Partner Atos, whilst its IT story won’t resonate with some, it's hard to think it’d be willing to exclude any audiences given the prestige, ticket cost and significance of the Games. Finding the right platform to engage with diverse audiences present for work or personal reasons is huge and must be captured. If we also look at it through an IOC lens, the Games serve to inspire. In the purest sense, it's there to promote athletic endeavour. However, brands also have an oven ready consumer route to inspire the next generation and promote key personnel unlike anywhere else on the planet.

All this comes down to the dichotomy of celebrating reach and scale but also the ability to create hyper personalisation. 

Innovation is Game-Changing

A week might be a long time in politics, but four years is nothing in terms of innovation and acceleration. By the time the flame enters the LA Memorial Coliseum on July 14th 2028, the opportunities to know exactly who is in each seat is hugely exciting, not only for the sporting events but for fan zones and brand activations. 

Whether it's in the Intuit Dome or FC Bayern Basketball home court, we’re already seeing stadiums and experiential activity adopting a fan-first ethos to experiential technology innovation. With the over-indexing of global tech firms local to LA able to enhance content, information, messaging and assistance, it promises to be a captivating Olympics. 

Signs of what’s to come in 2028 are already evident from the closing ceremony in Paris and we can expect far more celebrity sizzle and hopefully digitally-led storytelling as the Games strives to reach a younger, more socially empowered audience.

There’s a real sense that Paris has galvanised the Games. It will be different in so many ways and few will be able to draw a meaningful comparison. But, hopefully, woven into the imagination and creativity for LA’s third Games will be some principles around community, collaboration and putting the fan first. Bring on LA 2028!