LOL. WTF is heat something we’re even concerned about? We’re talking about a sport that literally occurs in the water and potentially softball which would be being played in what is essentially the world headquarters of softball and hosts tournaments in the heat every year. I swear people here could try to put a negative spin on anything.

For those who have never been, LA is often really hot in August too when you move inland from the beaches.

This is going to be one of the coolest things that has happened in OKC during most of our lifetimes…how about we just be excited and look forward to it?

*some* people are negative... The very vocal minority.

OKC and Oklahoma are going to fall all over ourselves to welcome these events.

LOL. WTF is heat something we’re even concerned about? . . .

…how about we just be excited and look forward to it?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qFb0_JUjE8

So what is going on with this?

So what is going on with this?

It seems the plan now is not to announce anything -- meaning all the final LA28 venues -- until after the Paris games this summer.

However, I'm told the canoe slalom is still a done deal in OKC and there is plenty of movement behind the scenes in terms of the planning process.

Man that is going to be so cool. Can't wait to take my kids to see the festivities.

It seems the plan now is not to announce anything -- meaning all the final LA28 venues -- until after the Paris games this summer.

However, I'm told the canoe slalom is still a done deal in OKC and there is plenty of movement behind the scenes in terms of the planning process.

I know you can't give us much but please give us a small hint about your sources. Are they OKC officials, Olympic committee staff, Las Angeles city staff/ politicians, corporate sponsors, or all of the above?

My understanding is an announcement may be made within the next month finalizing all the venues and sports for LA28 and that OKC will be hosting the whitewater events.

Rowing will stay in LA and I believe the same is true for softball.

https://www.news9.com/story/6675a969eb2d90d2e8ca7806/oklahoma-city-confirmed-for-multiple-olympic-events

https://x.com/MattLMcCabe/status/1804190887250944341


My understanding is an announcement may be made within the next month finalizing all the venues and sports for LA28 and that OKC will be hosting the whitewater events.

Rowing will stay in LA and I believe the same is true for softball.

Softball in OKC !!

LA28 proposes venue changes to Oklahoma City for Canoe/Kayak and Softball...story in today's Los Angeles Times (https://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/story/2024-06-21/venues-los-angeles-2028-olympics):


The 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles are getting an extreme makeover, with organizers proposing changes that would shift basketball into the brand-new Intuit Dome, put a temporary swimming pool in the middle of SoFi Stadium and move softball games 1,300 miles east to Oklahoma City...

...Money is also part, but not all, of the surprising decision to hold softball and canoe slalom four states away.

The move aligns with a recent trend that has seen the IOC scramble to assuage cities fearful of bidding for the Games and risking massive debt. IOC leadership has encouraged looking for cost savings wherever they can be found.

Oklahoma City entered the picture for LA28 because it already has two needed venues.

Its 13,000-seat softball stadium is larger than any comparable ballpark in Southern California and, located adjacent to the sport’s hall of fame, has a track record for drawing fans.

The city’s world-class canoe slalom venue, just south of downtown, will save on building a $39-million temporary course. Chamber of Commerce officials there have further sweetened the deal by offering to assume all risk; if the Games go over budget, they would cover outstanding expenses for their two venues.

“We are confident we will be an outstanding partner to LA28 in creating a dynamic environment for Olympians and fans,” Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt said in a statement.

There might have been another, subtler motivation for organizers to look afar. Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole is chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee at a time when LA28 has lobbied for federal help with Games security and transportation funding.

With canoe slalom potentially leaving its original location in the Sepulveda Basin, plans for the San Fernando Valley site would be completely overhauled. Shooting would depart. Same with equestrian, because the basin isn’t large enough to satisfy the IOC’s desire to keep the sport’s three disciplines — jumping, dressage and eventing — in the same location....

Guess we need a hotel or five over there by Remington!

F*** YAH!!!

Softball too!!! Arguably the biggest thing ever to happen to OKC.

Huge get for OKC, can’t wait to take my kids!

This is great!

Hopefully OKC prepares accordingly. They are normally reactive vs proactive. Need hotels by both the river and Softball complex. And improved amenities at the stadium, river, and even the airport.

But this is amazing news for OKC!

Hell yeah! I've shared this with a few people and everyone seems to be flabbergasted so far.

Wasn't expecting softball. Maybe time to speed up the zoo master plan?

This alone should be enough to bring international flights to Will Rogers, at least temporarily that summer.

Thinking about the implications of this, I wonder if it means the 2028 torch relay will come through OKC too. Feels like they'd hardly leave one of the host cities out.

Will the City get any type of funding for infrastructure upgrades, etc.?

Softball is super exciting. Ironically, I plan to have been in LA for a few years by 2028.

I hope plans have already been worked on to develop the needs that will arise from this. If not, it's too late. Tens of thousands of visitors will be a huge burden, unless OKC has already planned for it.

But again, this is huge news, and gives OKC a chance to shine on a global scale!

The softball is something I had heard a birdie speculate about. Super excited for OKC! This is a BFD!

Will the City get any type of funding for infrastructure upgrades, etc.?

Yes, some. But it will mostly come from corporate sponsorship, just like all Olympic games.

Sounds like an unfair advantage for team USA

Sounds like an unfair advantage for team USA

haha

18933

How do we get tickets.? I don't care the cost I'm going

This is really incredible, obviously we've been looking forward to the whitewater events, but Softball is crazy. Softball is about as American as it gets, and we are hosting it in OKC, what a time to be alive.

Softball was unexpected but super exciting news!

The mayor's statement says that this updated plan will now move to the IOC for consideration (but it doesn't yet sound 100% "official"). Is there any reason to believe they would not approve this plan or have further changes made to it? I obviously don't know all of what goes into such decisions.

This is really incredible, obviously we've been looking forward to the whitewater events, but Softball is crazy. Softball is about as American as it gets, and we are hosting it in OKC, what a time to be alive.

OKC is easily the softball capital of the world.

And that's because our city has supported the WCWS for decades and help build it into the amazingly popular sport it is today. And we have also heavily invested with our own tax dollars.

It's hard to comprehend the enormity of all this. And we've got 4 years to revel in the attention, plus we don't have to spend a ton of money for all the amazing recognition.

It sounds over the top, but this is the type of thing that may kick OKC into being a Tier 2 city.

This alone should be enough to bring international flights to Will Rogers, at least temporarily that summer.

Might as well expedite plans they already had

Might as well expedite plans they already had

The airport trust just approved big incentive plans for more direct flights.

Finding takers just got much easier.

Wow wow WOW!!!!

I was trying to temper my expectations but getting softball too (while it makes all the sense in the world) is still unbelievable!

I'd like to see them add shade awnings over the seating. Summer time in OKC is brutal, and I'm assuming games will be played all day long.

^^^ Think about this, how many states have or will get to host IOC events ?

This is great news for OKC. I hope they can somehow add some more temporary seats to the outfield. The demand will be there.

Note in the LA Times article that OKC agreed to accept all the financial risk, including any potential loss.

The good news is we already have the venues, so we won't necessarily have to break the bank.

However, we all know the City will want to put its very best foot forward and use this as an opportunity to improve those facilities for the longer term.


And as I've mentioned, the hard deadline of host Olympic games means that we'll see a ton of other projects fast-tracked now, just so they are ready when the world comes to OKC.

This would be a great time for the Chickasaws to announce a big hotel in the Remington Park parking lot, something we have all be clamoring for.

LA28 UPDATES VENUE PLAN TO STAGE OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC SPORTS IN SOME OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST STADIUMS AND ARENAS (https://la28.org/en/newsroom/la28-updates-venue-plan.html)

LA28 Updates Venue Plan to Deliver Improved Athlete and Fan Experiences, More Sustainable Solutions, and Legacy Opportunity in LA, Resulting in over $150 Million in Cost Savings and New Revenue

LOS ANGELES, CA (JUNE 21, 2024) - Today, the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games proposed the first series of updates to its venue plan that will stage some of the most popular Olympic and Paralympic sports in world-class arenas and stadiums, creating the ideal experience for athletes and fans, and achieving more than $150 million in combined new revenue and cost savings.

Southern California’s abundance of high-quality athletic venues is the strongest possible foundation for hosting a spectacular and fiscally responsible Games. With these changes, LA28 assigns more sports to existing stadiums and uses fewer temporary venues, which provides significant financial and operational benefits.

Each venue shift announced today will achieve at least a $10 million estimated economic improvement, reducing the cost and complexity of temporary stadium builds, overlays and operations, and will accumulate an estimated $156 million in combined savings and revenue increases to support LA28’s balanced budget.

Additionally, LA28’s venue moves and reliance on existing stadiums makes the Games more sustainable; enhances the field of play and warm up areas for athletes; improves seating, hospitality, services and capacity for more fans; places competitions in the hands of experienced venue operators and staff to ensure smooth delivery and operations; and provides legacy opportunities in the City of Los Angeles.

LA28’s previous venue plan was developed in 2017 when the City of Los Angeles was bidding for the Games. Since then, several new state-of-the-art stadiums and arenas have become available, a previously assigned venue has become unavailable, new sports have been added to the 2028 program, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) developed new policy to encourage Games organizers to prioritize using existing or temporary venues, even if they are located outside of the Host City.

“The Olympic and Paralympic Games represent the pinnacle of athletic competition and achievement, and we’re proud to host the Los Angeles 2028 Games in some of the greatest stadiums and arenas ever built,” said LA28 Chairperson and President Casey Wasserman. “LA28’s updated venue plan will provide the ideal Hollywood stage for the world’s top athletes, and choosing from spectacular existing venues, wherever they are, rather than building new permanent or temporary stadiums, achieves more than $150 million in savings and new revenue to help maintain a balanced budget. We look forward to partnering with these venues, and their experienced operators and workforce, to deliver an unparalleled experience for athletes and fans in 2028.”

Under the updated venue plan, some of the most popular Olympic competitions will be held in venues considered among the finest in the world. Gymnastics will be held at the legendary and recently renovated Arena in Downtown LA that is home to the NBA’s Lakers, NHL’s Kings, and WNBA’s Sparks; the nation’s newest and most advanced large pro sports Stadium, located in Inglewood, CA, that is home to the NFL’s Rams and Chargers, will become the largest swimming venue in Olympic history, with 38,000 seats; and Basketball will be held at the nation’s newest and state-of-the-art indoor Arena in Inglewood, CA that will be home to the NBA’s Clippers. Athletics and Para Athletics will remain at the iconic and recently refurbished LA Memorial Coliseum, making it the only stadium in history to host Track and Field competitions in three Olympic Games. (Please note, per current guidelines, LA28 will not use existing corporate names for stadiums and arenas for Games purposes.)

LA28’s plans for Opening and Closing Ceremonies are unchanged, with parts hosted at both the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Stadium located in Inglewood, CA. Additionally, to accommodate these moves, both World Athletics and World Aquatics, the governing bodies of Athletics and Aquatics Olympic events respectively, have approved and support LA28’s plan to adjust the traditional Olympic schedule. Specifically, the 2028 Olympic Games Athletics competition will move to the first week of the Olympic Games while the Swimming competition will be held during the second week.

In the updated venue plan, LA28 reaffirms its commitment to the San Fernando Valley, which was not included in either the 1932 or 1984 Games. The Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area in the Valley will host the youthful, high-energy Olympic competitions for BMX Freestyle and BMX Racing along with Skateboarding Park and Street. The precision sport of Archery will also be in Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Diving will return to the same pool that hosted the Aquatics events in the 1932 Olympic Games, the 1932 Pool in Exposition Park, that will remain a legacy venue for generations of Angelenos to enjoy through the City’s Department of Recreation and Parks. The City of Long Beach will host Artistic Swimming and Para Swimming competitions, in addition to several other sports that will be announced at a later date.

While Southern California has more professional and collegiate sports venues than any area in the United States, there is no Canoe Slalom venue that exists locally (or anywhere in the Western US), and the largest Softball venue in Southern California seats fewer than 2,000 people, which does not meet the expected spectator demand for Softball at the Olympic Games. 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. These assignments are also in alignment with the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020+5 recommendation which emphasizes sustainability by encouraging the use of existing venues beyond the region of the Host City. 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. 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.

Equestrian and Para Equestrian competitions, previously assigned to the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, will be held at an exceptional existing facility in Temecula, CA, that is the only such facility in Southern California large enough to accommodate all required disciplines in one location. Shooting and Shooting Para Sport competitions, which were also previously assigned to the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, will be assigned to one of two possible sport shooting clubs, to be determined, both of which can leverage on existing shotgun facilities and are located in Southern California, outside the City of Los Angeles.

LA28 submitted these updated venue assignments to the City of Los Angeles, which must approve competitions that move outside of the city’s boundaries from the venue plan submitted during the bid. Download LA28’s submission here.

All proposed venue changes have been assessed in consultation with each respective International Federation. The IOC Executive Board has approved these venue assignments for Olympic sports, pending approval from the City of Los Angeles. Changes to venues for Paralympic sports will require approval from the IPC Governing Board in the future.

Additional changes to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic venue plan that do not move events outside the City of Los Angeles’ boundaries, or that assign venues for new sports added to the Olympic and Paralympic sport programs since 2017, along with the updated Paralympic venue plan will all be announced later.



Moving out of the City of Los Angeles – requires City approval
Olympic Swimming to Inglewood
Paralympic Swimming to Long Beach
Olympic Artistic Swimming to Long Beach
Olympic Basketball to Inglewood
Olympic Canoe Slalom to the City of Oklahoma City
Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian to Temecula
Olympic and Paralympic Shooting to existing venue outside of Los Angeles

Moving into the City of Los Angeles – does not require City approval
Olympic Diving to existing venue in Los Angeles
Olympic and Paralympic Archery to the Sepulveda Basin
Olympic BMX Freestyle to the Sepulveda Basin
Olympic BMX Racing to the Sepulveda Basin
Olympic Gymnastics (Artistic, Rhythmic, Trampoline) to Downtown Los Angeles
Olympic Skateboarding Park to the Sepulveda Basin
Olympic Skateboarding Street to the Sepulveda Basin

A hotel in the boathouse district would be great too, maybe not necessary but would still be legit. I know OKANA opening up will kind of fill that void.

OKC is the only city outside of California that will be hosting?!

How much grandstand capacity will be needed at the whitewater facility ?

Anyone have an idea ?

How much grandstand capacity will be needed at the whitewater facility ?

Anyone have an idea ?

I believe they are looking at 10-12K.

Remember that RFP I posted about new plans for the Whitewater facility? That's what it was about and AHMM won the planning rights which have already started.

This would be a great time for the Chickasaws to announce a big hotel in the Remington Park parking lot, something we have all be clamoring for.

Is this a wink to something you've heard?

I'm sure you've heard rumblings about new developments coming in association with this news. I won't pry it out of you, just curious if there were any.

No, I haven't heard anything specific about a hotel on the Remington grounds but do know it was discussed long before the Olympics came on the radar.

[URL="https://la28.org/en/newsroom/la28-updates-venue-plan.html"]
Moving out of the City of Los Angeles – requires City approval
Olympic Swimming to Inglewood
Paralympic Swimming to Long Beach
Olympic Artistic Swimming to Long Beach
Olympic Basketball to Inglewood
Olympic Canoe Slalom to the City of Oklahoma City
Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian to Temecula
Olympic and Paralympic Shooting to existing venue outside of Los Angeles


Interesting that softball is included in the body of the announcement, but not in this list. Maybe just an oversight, but I assume it needs City approval, too.

Interesting that softball is included in the body of the announcement, but not in this list. Maybe just an oversight, but I assume it needs City approval, too.

I believe it's because a softball venue was never previously announced; there was a provisional plan for the whitewater events in the Sepulveda basin, which is within L.A. city limits.

I'd like to see them add shade awnings over the seating. Summer time in OKC is brutal, and I'm assuming games will be played all day long.

OMG YES I hope someone sees this been saying it for years.

I was curious about the format. Looks like in 2020 there were six teams competing over 6 days for a total of 17 games:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softball_at_the_2020_Summer_Olympics

In 2008, there were 8 teams, with about 30 games:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softball_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics

It will be interesting to see what the format is and how many teams / games there are.

Let’s goooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

I believe it's because a softball venue was never previously announced; there was a provisional plan for the whitewater events in the Sepulveda basin, which is within L.A. city limits.

That makes sense. Thanks.

This has to be by far the biggest thing to ever happen to the city, right? I was happy enough to just get the canoe slalom. To get both events is truly amazing. I am so grateful and proud of OKC.

This has to be by far the biggest thing to ever happen to the city, right?

IMO, the only single thing that would compare was getting the Thunder.

OKC is easily the softball capital of the world.

And that's because our city has supported the WCWS for decades and help build it into the amazingly popular sport it is today. And we have also heavily invested with our own tax dollars.

It's hard to comprehend the enormity of all this. And we've got 4 years to revel in the attention, plus we don't have to spend a ton of money for all the amazing recognition.

It sounds over the top, but this is the type of thing that may kick OKC into being a Tier 2 city.

Now, all we need is a 1907' high tower. :)

I'll admit I know next to nothing about how canoe slalom works, especially qualifying criteria, but this says, as of October last year, 24 different countries had qualified for events in Paris:

https://www.canoeicf.com/news/update-countries-paris-slalom-quotas#:~:text=A%20total%20of%2024%20countries,be% 20held%20early%20next%20year.

Now, all we need is a 1907' high tower. :)

Oddly, this announcement will only help the other 3 towers to get built, which is by far the most important thing.


Get ready for much more publicity about OKC being the next hot city. It is a very strong argument.

How much grandstand capacity will be needed at the whitewater facility ?

Anyone have an idea ?

Yes, per the LA Times article. Speaks volumes about the work David Holt put in with his relationship with Mayor Garcetti. Just incredible news for our city, which is destined for even more greatness. So proud of OKC and all that we have done as citizens -- and visitors -- to support this dramatic ongoing transformation.

Oddly, this announcement will only help the other 3 towers to get built, which is by far the most important thing.


Get ready for much more publicity about OKC being the next hot city. It is a very strong argument.

It's already happening. I saw an article yesterday mentioning OKC as the ninth-best place for new college graduates to move to. All of the other cities were bigger and more well-known. We are already on the lists.

Yes, per the LA Times article. Speaks volumes about the work David Holt put in with his relationship with Mayor Garcetti. Just incredible news for our city, which is destined for even more greatness. So proud of OKC and all that we have done as citizens -- and visitors -- to support this dramatic ongoing transformation.

The 'build it and they will come approach' of tax-supported facilities continues to pay dividends; and it was the only reason we got a shot at an NBA team.