How the Los Angeles fires will (and won’t) impact the 2028 Olympics

The fires have blazed across tens of thousands of acres, swallowing homes, devouring communities and scarring Los Angeles for 10 unending days. They left an ashy trail of destruction, toxins and charred debris that will take months to clear. Then, Angelenos will attempt to rebuild their beloved city. Doing so will require a “Marshall Plan” akin to the one that reconstructed Europe after World War II. The recovery, experts say, will take several years.

And in those years, the same Los Angeles will host perhaps the planet’s three grandest sporting events.

As survivors struggle and power tools screech and politicians replan, their city will stage the 2026 men’s World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympics.

While the fires raged this week, those mega-events, and especially the Olympics, became subjects of angst and speculation. Could L.A. really host the Games, some wondered, with reconstruction ongoing? The answer, according to organizers, city officials and Olympic scholars who spoke to Yahoo Sports, is an unequivocal yes. No venues have been damaged. “I have not seen any reluctance or concern,” said Wendy Greuel, a former L.A. City Council leader, “that we're not up to the task.”

Andrew Zimbalist, a leading sports economist and professor at Smith College, agreed: “As horrific as the fires have been on a human scale, and also on a physical scale so far, I don't think there's anything there at all for LA28 to worry about.”

Zev Yaroslasky, who spent four decades serving the L.A. city and county governments, added: “As long as the Olympic [organizing] committee runs their Games in a cost-neutral or profitable way, [the fires] should not be a barrier to holding the Olympic Games.”

He and others noted, though, that funding of these Olympics remains riddled with uncertainty. The fires, they said, could amplify debates over the merits, risks and true cost of hosting the Games. L.A.’s planning, which was already steeped in politics, could get increasingly messy. And any confidence comes with one giant, albeit distant, caveat: In this warming world, there is always danger that more wildfires could ravage L.A. between now and 2028.

Will the L.A. Olympics detract from fire recovery?

Most experts are unconcerned because the Los Angeles Games will rely almost entirely on existing infrastructure — all of which escaped the Palisades and Eaton fires unscathed.

There are no stadiums to build; no Olympic Village to construct from scratch. So, compared to previous Games, these ones haven’t strained the host city. The LA28 organizing committee, a private entity, has pledged to raise enough sponsorship, broadcast, licensing and ticket revenue to cover the costs of the Olympics. If all goes to plan, the Games and fire recovery efforts won’t be competing for dollars from government.

Critics point to Games-adjacent costs that won’t be paid by LA28 and will fall to public authorities. The organizing committee’s $6.9 billion budget covers things like renting and preparing athletic arenas, feeding athletes and transporting personnel. It does not cover the extensive security operation around the Games, nor the 3,000 buses and rail system expansion that will be necessary to transport millions of fans across the region.

But still, those billions of dollars aren’t dollars that could simply be diverted to the rebuild. Security support will come from the U.S. federal government. And the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro), which is responsible for managing and funding the transit projects, is a so-called “joint powers authority” that gets its money via sales tax, passenger fares and other sources. “The city of Los Angeles,” Greuel explained, “doesn't just give money to Metro.”

The scenario where fire recovery and the Olympics compete for the same cash is the one where LA28 goes over budget, or fails to find enough sponsors to cover all its costs. In that scenario, per L.A.’s contract with the International Olympic Committee, the city must pay the first $270 million in cost overruns; the state of California would pay the next $270 million; and the city would pay the rest.

“If that happens, without the fire, I think it would've been a serious problem and a political problem for all the people involved,” Yaroslasky said. “[After the fire], it certainly would be a problem.”

Of the tens of billions, and possibly hundreds of billions of dollars required to recover from the fires, large chunks will come from the federal government. Other chunks will come from California and from insurance companies. Some of the financial burden, though, will fall to the city government. If the Olympics became a competing priority, and slowed reconstruction, citizens would likely be furious.

“But let me tell you, even if we hadn't had this fire, a cost overrun that the city would have to pick up the tab for would be incredibly financially stressful on the city,” Yaroslasky clarified. If it weren’t detracting from recovery, it would be detracting from, say, schools or efforts to address homelessness.

Others worry about less tangible resources, such as the attention of city leaders. NOlympics LA, an activist group that has opposed the Los Angeles Games since their inception, said in a statement: “Angelenos simply cannot afford to put public money, time, energy and infrastructure development into a global party-cum-TV show while we respond to the devastation wrought by the most recent fires.”

Could fire recovery indirectly affect Olympic transportation?

The other worry that the fires could exacerbate, albeit indirectly, relates to transportation.

L.A. Metro does not, on its own, have the funds to rent thousands of buses or pay for vast, permanent improvements to public transit. So, it has asked the federal government to pitch in. Most of its requests, though, have been refused, leaving local officials concerned that some of their Olympic plans might have to be scaled back, or that entire projects might have to be scrapped.

In November, three weeks after Donald Trump’s election, the L.A. Metro board wrote to the incoming president and asked anew for $3.2 billion, to enable “the largest and most spectacular sporting event held in American history.”

But now, as Trump prepares to take office, he, his administration and Congress have another priority in Los Angeles. Trump reportedly plans to visit fire sites soon after his Monday inauguration, amid fears that he might withhold aid to a state that he regularly bashes.

The Department of Transportation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are, of course, entirely separate entities. But they are both funded by the same government, via appropriations from Congress. Securing money for specific purposes, whether for disaster relief or Olympics-adjacent transport, often requires delicate, multi-layered negotiations among Senators and House Representatives. It requires trade-offs and forces Congressmen to elevate certain issues at the expense of others — based on which ones are most important to the people they represent. Senator Alex Padilla (D-California), for example, has pushed for L.A. transportation funding. Now, California representatives are fighting a politicized battle with some Congressional Republicans over fire aid. Could the political capital they expend in that fight impact their ability to win a less-urgent battle around the Olympics?

“I think that's possible. There could be a trade-off there … on a small scale,” Zimbalist said.

If there is, L.A. Metro could look to local governments or other sources for funding; or organizers might have to further alter plans for a “no-car Games” and potentially deal with frustrated fans stuck in traffic jams.

There is hope, however, that trade-offs won’t be necessary, in part because Trump will see the Olympics as a personal platform and want to ensure their success. He met with LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman on Wednesday at Mar-a-Lago. “We are grateful for his unwavering commitment to LA28,” Wasserman said in a statement afterward. “We look forward to partnering with him and his Administration to deliver a safe and successful Games our nation can be proud of.”

World Cup, Club World Cup keeping L.A. matches

As for the impact of the fires, Wasserman said in an earlier statement that “the strength of our communities and our unity in tough times make this city extraordinary, and when Los Angeles welcomes the world in 2028, our spirit will shine brighter than ever before.” (LA28 spokespeople did not respond to an email seeking further comment. The IOC, beyond a brief Sunday statement, said it had nothing more to add.)

Paul Krekorian, the executive director of L.A.’s Office of Major Events, said in an emailed statement through a spokeswoman: “Mayor [Karen] Bass, the City Council, and regional, state and federal leaders are entirely focused on our recovery and on supporting our impacted residents, and they will continue to be. While our focus remains on healing and rebuilding, there is no reason to believe that the fires will adversely impact or delay preparations for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are already well underway.”

As for other major sporting events, FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, said it was “actively monitoring the situation.” It will bring eight World Cup games to SoFi Stadium in 2026, and six Club World Cup games to the Rose Bowl in June 2025. Those Rose Bowl matches will be the first sporting events since the fires at the iconic Pasadena stadium, which sits a few miles away from areas damaged by the Eaton fire.

But there have not been any suggestions that those events — which are spread across a dozen U.S. cities and are therefore significantly smaller undertakings for Los Angeles — will have to be moved or replanned. SoFi Stadium, which will also host the 2027 Super Bowl, is more than 15 miles away from the nearest wildfire.

A spokesman for L.A.’s 2026 World Cup host committee said in an emailed statement: “We look forward to continuing with our efforts to prepare for Los Angeles’ role in hosting eight matches,” including the U.S. men’s national team’s opener.

The statement echoed Wasserman’s, and a narrative that many expect to emerge, by concluding that the World Cup matches will “demonstrat[e] our region’s incredible resilience.”