LA28 announces Dodger Stadium among new 2028 Olympic venues

With Dodger Stadium and Alamitos Beach joining the list Tuesday, LA28 has almost completed its full venue plan for the 2028 Olympics.

The organizing committee announced an updated venue plan Tuesday in which sites for all but two events have been revealed as the Games approach in less than three and a half years. The International Olympic Committee approved the master plan last week, with about half of the events staying in Los Angeles, clustering in three major hubs.

“This plan brings the Games to all corners of our city like never before — from the Sepulveda Basin to the iconic shores of Venice Beach, our world-famous neighborhoods as well as our hidden gems will be on full display for all to experience and enjoy,” Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. “And as we come together to prepare, we will help small businesses, create local jobs and implement lasting environmental and transportation improvements that will leave a legacy in our city for generations to come.”

In the downtown core, baseball joins boxing, which will have preliminary rounds at the Peacock Theater and finals at Crypto.com Arena. The downtown home of the Lakers and Kings will also host artistic gymnastics, a previously announced move that brought the Summer Games’ premier sport to the host city after initial plans had it slotted for the Forum in Inglewood.

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Rhythmic gymnastics was added Tuesday to the Expo Park cluster at USC’s Galen Center, which will also host badminton. The third major L.A. Olympic hub in the Sepulveda Basin officially added 3x3 basketball and modern pentathlon Tuesday to the recreation center that will host BMX and skateboarding.

“We’ve promised the world an incredible Olympic Games and today we’re proud to share the plan that will make it happen,” LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover said in a statement. “Los Angeles is the epicenter of sports, culture and entertainment, and every venue selected for the 2028 Games will provide athletes and fans the best possible experience.”

All five of the new sports proposed for the L.A. Games now have venues as squash will make its Olympic debut at the Universal Studios lot. In its first Olympic competition since 1900, cricket will take place at the fairgrounds in Pomona. Softball, which will be in the Games for the first time since 2008, will take place in Oklahoma City’s Devon Park, the 13,000-seat stadium that hosts the Women’s College World Series annually.

After Los Angeles, Long Beach will be the second-busiest venue city with 11 disciplines, highlighted by Tuesday’s addition of beach volleyball at Alamitos Beach. The popular sport was originally earmarked to be held near Santa Monica’s iconic pier, but yearslong talks between LA28 and Santa Monica broke down as an IOC deadline approached for last week’s executive board meeting.

Other last-minute changes brought equestrian back to Santa Anita, which hosted the Olympic competitions in 1984. After the initial plans for a temporary facility in the Sepulveda Basin were nixed, equestrian was supposed to be headed to Temecula’s Galway Downs. The 242-acre facility was approved in a vote from the Los Angeles City Council in March, but was taken out of consideration a day after LA28 got its master plan approved by the IOC in a closed session on April 9.

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Long Beach will be used for the marathon swimming and sailing events for the 2028 Summer Olympics. (Al Seib / For The Times)

The plan had primary goals of not building new permanent structures, maximizing the host city of Los Angeles and trying to cluster events together into sports parks to ease logistical concerns.

While Huntington Beach was a possible destination for beach volleyball, the sport’s placement in Long Beach puts it next to 10 other events, including coastal rowing at the waterfront, target shooting in the Convention Center and sport climbing in the Convention Center parking lot, where a temporary pool will house water polo and artistic swimming. The city hosted several events during the 1984 Games, including sailing, which will return to Belmont Shore in 2028.

Venice Beach took over triathlon hosting from Long Beach and will also be the starting points for the marathon and road cycling events.

The latest plans placed archery in Dignity Health Sports Park, which is already hosting the rugby tournament. The surrounding area also has tennis, track cycling and field hockey.

Orange County will have two sports as Anaheim’s Honda Center will house indoor volleyball and surfing will take place at Trestles Beach in San Clemente.

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The only venues that have not been confirmed publicly are for soccer preliminary rounds and mountain biking. Similar to the format for recent Olympic Games, the soccer group stage games are expected to be held in stadiums across the country before returning to the Rose Bowl for the medal rounds.

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