Los Angeles 2028 organizers on Tuesday vowed to deliver an “affordable and inclusive” Olympic and Paralympic Games as they moved toward opening ticket lottery registration.
LA28 Chairman Casey Wasserman said one million tickets would be priced at $28, with about a third of the estimated 14 million tickets available costing $100 or less.
Speaking outside the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Wasserman stressed that accessibility has been a core promise from the outset.
“From the beginning, we’ve been clear: These Games belong to everyone,” he said. “They have to be affordable and inclusive.”
The first step toward ticket sales begins Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. local time (3:00 p.m. GMT), when fans worldwide can register for a lottery that will offer the chance to buy tickets starting in April.
Fans who register will be entered into a draw that will randomly assign time slots to buy tickets for the Games.
Wasserman’s comments came after weeks of criticism of world football’s governing body, FIFA, over its ticketing strategy for this year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
FIFA was forced to announce a limited number of tickets priced at $60 last month after prices for the tournament were condemned as “extortionate and astronomical.”
“This is the first step for fans around the city, around the country and, yes, around the world to get their ticket to history and join us here in L.A. for the greatest Games the world will have ever seen,” Wasserman said.
“The foundation of everything we’re building tomorrow is about fans, the people who bring the energy, the enthusiasm and the noise.”
Tuesday’s ceremony brought together about 300 Olympians and Paralympians from past Games as officials conducted a ceremonial lighting of the Olympic cauldron at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
“Our tickets are going to be affordable, our Games will be accessible, and they’re right here in our backyard,” LA28 Chief Executive Reynold Hoover said at the event.
Hoover added that organizers have already seen more than 150,000 people sign up to be volunteers for the Games.
“That’s nearly 150,000 supporters saying, ‘I want to be a part of this. I want to be a part of history,’” he said.
U.S. swimming legend Janet Evans, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and LA28’s chief athlete officer, cited her own experience attending the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as a fan.
“The Olympics and Paralympics bring the world together, but they also inspire people,” Evans told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“As a 12-year-old who came to watch the Games here in ’84, I was inspired to do what I do now. I think making tickets accessible and affordable for everyone in the city of Los Angeles is going to inspire young people, because that’s what the Olympics do: They inspire people.”
