LA Moves Forward With Bid to Host 2024 Olympics: ‘We’ll Roll Out the Red Carpet’

The Los Angeles city council cleared the way in a 15-0 vote Tuesday for the U.S. Olympic Committee to name L.A. as its official candidate for the 2024 Games, and Mayor Eric Garcetti is using the city’s Hollywood ties to tout the plan.

“We’ll roll out the red carpet, put on a show only L.A. can do for the best athletes in the world,” Garcetti said during a beachfront press conference in Santa Monica after the city council vote.

The mayor went on to cite L.A.’s creativity, diversity and Hollywood’s inherent storytelling capabilities as reasons for the International Olympic Committee to choose Southern California to host the Games.

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“The Olympics love L.A., and L.A. loves the Olympics,” Garcetti continued.

He was joined at the press conference by LA 2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman, Olympian Janet Evans, L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson, announcer Al Michaels and USOC CEO Scott Blackmun.

“We’re confident L.A. can deliver an outstanding Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024,” Blackmun said.

The city council vote made it possible for the USOC to choose L.A. as a replacement for Boston, which withdrew its bid to host the Games earlier this summer. However some critics are questioning whether it is worth the cost for L.A. to host the Games after city officials estimated it would cost about $4 billion.

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The IOC will pick the 2024 Olympics host city in 2017. Its current choices already include Rome, Paris, Hamburg and Budapest.

Los Angeles previously hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984. In 2015, L.A. hosted the Special Olympics World Summer Games, welcoming over 6,500 athletes.

In 2011, NBCU had acquired the right to broadcast the Olympic Games until 2020, including Rio in 2016, Pyongyang in 2018 and Tokyo in 2020. In 2014, the agreement was extended through to the 2032 Games.