≡ CEREMONIES ≡
Confirming the plan originally presented in the Los Angeles bid for the 2024 Olympic Games, the LA28 organizing committee said Thursday that the Olympic opening will be held at both the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, on 14 July 2028.
No details of the ceremonies were provided, but the concept was described in the LA2024 bid documents, before SoFi Stadium – then called the “LA Stadium at Hollywood Park” was even completed:
“LA 2024’s proposed opening ceremony will begin with the Olympic Torch Relay down the peristyle of the LA Memorial Coliseum, home to the ceremonies of both the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games. This will be filled with 70,000 spectators for a Hollywood-produced program of live entertainment, top musical performances and a live viewing and virtual-reality experience of all ceremony events at the LA Stadium at Hollywood Park.
“The Olympic Torch Relay will proceed past iconic landmarks on the streets of Los Angeles, connecting the City’s diverse neighborhoods, until it reaches the new LA Stadium at Hollywood Park.
“Simultaneously, the LA Stadium at Hollywood Park will stage the formal opening ceremony elements, including the Parade of Nations, the Olympic oath, and the official opening of the Games. This new USD 2.6 billion, 85,000-seat stadium — the future home of the NFL’s LA Chargers and LA Rams — is already under construction and due for completion in 2019.
“Produced by Academy Award winning directors and storytellers, the LA 2024 Olympic
Games Opening Ceremony will be designed to celebrate the Olympic Movement’s historic contribution to building a better world, while using our city’s unique creativity to both broaden and strengthen the Olympic brand’s connection to a new generation of youth around the world.
“The LA 2024 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony and the celebration will culminate with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron in the LA Stadium, then triggering a lighting of the Olympic cauldron at the Coliseum, where it will remain lit for the duration of the Games and the athletics competitions.”
The Thursday (8th) announcement also confirmed that the Olympic closing on 30 July 2028 would be in the Coliseum, which will be the only stadium in the world to have been the site for Olympic ceremonies in three Games: 1932, 1984 and 2028.
There was an announced change to the Paralympic ceremonies, with the opening on 15 August 2028, at SoFi Stadium, now termed the “Stadium in Inglewood” because the International Olympic Committee does not allow sponsor identification on facilities, unless a company is also a sponsor of the IOC (SoFi is not).
However, where the 2024 bid plan had specified that the Paralympic closing on 27 August would be at SoFi Stadium, it will now be at the Coliseum, which has a historical connection to the Paralympic Movement, as the first-ever wheelchair races held at the Olympic Games – exhibitions – were contested during the 1984 Olympic Games on 11 August.
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The evolution of the Coliseum over more than 100 years can be seen in its Olympic roles, with the original seating plan for 76,000 when it opened in 1923.
It was expanded with seating in the Peristyle end to 101,022 for the opening of the Games of the Xth Olympiad in 1932, then saw the replacement of simple benches to individual seats for most sections by 1984, reducing the opening attendance on 28 July 1984 to 92,655.
That changed with multiple renovations, including in 1993 when the 1984 Olympic track was removed to install 14 rows of seats – about 8,000 – closer to the football field. From late 2017 to mid-2019, the University of Southern California, which operates the facility now, invested $315 million to remake the seating and install a Rose Bowl-like pavilion on the south side; those improvements reduced the seating capacity to 77,500 today.
For track & field at the 2028 Olympic Games, a new track will have to be installed on stilts, covering the 14 rows that were added in 1993. That will further bring the capacity down to perhaps 67,000 with the requirements for camera platforms and media seating.
SoFi Stadium’s listed capacity is 70,240, but was promoted during construction as being capable of expansion to 100,240 for major events, which would certainly be helpful for 2028.
