From the LA Times:
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...
...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....