Support for the LA28 Games Eroding Over Time
The LA28 Olympic Games have been looming on the California horizon for over a decade, after an unsuccessful bid for the 2024 Games magically became the 2028 project with no public buy-in.
Initial Olympic reporting claimed sky-high approval levels as evidenced in 2016 and 2017 polls, both conducted by Study LA/LMU (whose lead poller was a registered lobbyist for at least four Olympic-pegged hotels) and commissioned by the Olympic bid committee. This polling accompanied a bidding process that excluded any relevant community outreach or public vote. LA media has conducted strikingly few public polls over the decade plus of this project’s existence (in contrast to Boston’s WBUR, which conducted monthly opinion polls in the two years the city had an active bid).
Now, as the 2028 Games draw closer, early warning signs of Olympic-related harm are no longer theoretical. Despite LA’s supposed status as a sanctuary city, the ICE raids and kidnappings we’ve seen in recent weeks and subsequent brutal suppression of protests have all occurred with the cooperation and complicity of Mayor Karen Bass and LAPD– signaling the beginning of the violent “security theater” that has historically accompanied Olympic Games worldwide. These escalations are unfolding while large swaths of Southern California are still reeling from devastating wildfires, with many neighborhoods left behind in the recovery process.
In contrast to our elected officials, state and county institutions, and legacy local media outlets, we care about what real people think about our city, its problems, and how the Olympics pose threats to the people who live here at every possible step. NOlympics LA — a grassroots volunteer coalition of organizations opposing the 2024/2028 Olympic bid — is doing what we can to fill the polling void. Earlier this spring, we conducted an independent survey of 300 residents of the Los Angeles metropolitan area across age, gender, and income brackets to gauge support of and, more importantly, confidence in the City’s capacity to fund and host the 2028 Games. Our findings and analysis are summarized below.
FINDINGS
1. A Majority of Angelenos Support Wildfire Recovery Over the Olympics
In our survey, 54% of all respondents indicated that wildfire recovery and rebuilding efforts are a more important priority for public resources and spending over the next three years in Los Angeles, with only 24% of respondents choosing the Olympics (21% of respondents indicated “Neither” or “I have no opinion”). Given the City of Los Angeles’ $1 billion budget deficit, Angelenos believe scarce public resources should be directed where they are needed most, and not to the Olympics.
2. Millennials and Gen Z Reject the LA28 Olympics
There’s a big age gap when it comes to support for the Olympics, with younger people less supportive overall. In our survey, only 22% of respondents aged 18-29 indicated they are very supportive of LA hosting the 2028 Summer Games, compared with 53% of respondents 45-60. When asked how they would vote on a referendum on LA hosting the Olympics, this age gap is similarly stark, with only 34% of younger respondents aged 18-29 indicating “yes,” compared with 69% of older respondents aged 45-60. Millennials and Gen Z will inherit a post-Olympics LA, with all its fiscal woes, gentrification and displacement, and policing and security measures, and they’re saying “no.”
3. Women are More Critical of the LA28 Olympics than Men
Across survey questions, women were more likely than men to be opposed to or skeptical of the LA 2028 Olympics. Women were more opposed or neutral to Los Angeles hosting the Games (40% women vs. 23% men), less confident in the City’s ability to meet its obligations while preparing for the games (24% women not confident vs. 13% men), more likely to prioritize wildfire recovery over Olympics preparations (61% women vs. 49% men), more likely to believe the Games should be cancelled in the event of another local disaster (38% women vs. 27% men), and less likely to vote “Yes” on a referendum about LA 2028 (44% women vs. 62% men). This comes as no surprise, given what we already know about the Olympics: women athletes not only experience under-representation, unequal treatment, unacceptable policing of their bodies and the exclusion of trans athletes during the Games, but women residents of host cities experience how gender can compound experiences of policing (particularly amongst sex workers), gentrification, and displacement caused by the Games.
4. Angelenos Only Support the Olympics in the Abstract
Though 40% of respondents in our survey are very supportive of Los Angeles hosting the Olympics, a dismal 17% feel extremely confident in LA’s ability to fund wildfire recovery while preparing for them. Seeing as the majority of respondents believe wildfire recovery and rebuilding is a more important public priority, this disparity is especially striking. When contextualized with other issues the Olympics can exacerbate, support plummets.
5. Support for LA28 is flagging as the Games draw nearer
A brief history of public polling suggests the LA28 Olympics enjoys less widespread support among residents than initially assumed, and that this support may be dropping over time. Polling commissioned by the bid committee in 2016 claimed 88% of Angelenos supported hosting the Olympics, but just a year later support had dropped to 83%. A 2023 poll demonstrated 57% support, and a 2024 poll — in the afterglow of the 2024 Paris Games — showed 67% approval of LA28. In NOlympics’ latest survey, 69% of respondents were either very or somewhat supportive of the Olympics, but only 54% would vote to support LA28 if there were a referendum tomorrow. Despite initial claims of nearly universal support, these figures suggest a much more complicated picture: one in which Angelenos’ enthusiasm for the Olympics is eroding over time and in response to very real pressures on public resources. Additionally, as our own 2018 polling showed, once you start informing respondents about the impacts of hosting mega-events (which most polls do not do), support nosedives.
About the Survey
NOlympics conducted an anonymous, online survey using SurveyMonkey’s paid Audience service. The survey was conducted from 4/25/2025 to 4/27/2025 and included five substantive questions and five basic demographic questions. Responses were collected from a balanced sample of 300 Los Angeles Metropolitan Area residents, aged 18 and older (see attached raw data for participant demographics). A few important notes to keep in mind:
- The survey was conducted only in English and only online, which limits responses. In Los Angeles, 45.2% of residents speak only English.
- While the survey sample included respondents of different ages, genders, and income levels, the distribution does not exactly match that of Los Angeles as a whole. Notably, our sample included more men and more older adults than expected. See attached survey data for demographic details.
- In an effort to gauge existing opinion directly, the survey did not include information on some of the most concerning aspects of the Olympics, including heightened securitization, increased public financial liability, and risk of gentrification and displacement. See the attached survey data for full survey questions and responses.
- NOlympics is an entirely volunteer-run organization, funded through small donations from our coalition members and individual Angelenos.
- The full survey questions and results are available here.
QUESTIONS?
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