Why Santa Monica Rejected the Olympics

The birthplace of beach volleyball will not be hosting it during the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. 

Santa Monica officials said Tuesday that talks between the city and the organizing committee for the upcoming Games to potentially host beach volleyball have ended, blaming costs that the city would have to bear.

The city’s state beach has been seen as a home for the sport since 2016, when the organizing committee first put a bid in for the Games. But LA28 notified the city last week that it will look into a new host after they could not agree on a number of factors, including community benefits and financial guarantees. 

“There is no better place to host the Olympic beach volleyball competition than Santa Monica, where the sport was born,” Santa Monica mayor Lana Negrete said in a statement. “We would have loved to be a venue city in 2028. While we’re disappointed that an agreement was not realized, we remain eager to share in the excitement the Olympics will bring to our region and are looking forward to being a regional partner in this historic event.”

In October, the city released a study around the economic impacts of hosting Olympic events. It found that doing so would result in a net loss of $1.45 million for the city, while not hosting would generate $10 million in profits from tourist sites that could remain open instead.

The city could still be involved with the Games outside of volleyball, whether it hosts foreign delegations, practice sites, or media.

One of LA28’s biggest selling points as an event has been that the Games require no new infrastructure, with the city having enough existing outlets to host. But pulling it off has required the organizing committee to go outside of the city’s footprint. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena will host the soccer final while athletes will have to travel more than 20 miles south to Long Beach to compete in the triathlon and marathon swimming. 

On Wednesday, the organizing committee is expected to reveal a new venue proposal for beach volleyball to the International Olympic Committee. LA28 and Santa Monica officials both did not immediately respond to requests for comment.