Why Are 2028 Olympics Tickets So Expensive? Everything To Know About the LA Summer Games
The 2028 Summer Olympics are heading back to Los Angeles for the third time-and if you know anything about LA, you know they're about to do it big. Running from July 14–30, 2028, the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad are taking over Southern California with a very 2020s twist-zero new permanent venues, massive existing stadiums doing double duty as swimming pools, and events scattered from the beaches of Venice to softball fields in Oklahoma City. Because why build new stuff when you've already got SoFi Stadium, Dodger Stadium and the iconic Rose Bowl just sitting there?
LA previously hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984, and both times the city left its mark on Olympic history. The 1932 Games introduced the first-ever centralized Olympic Village (revolutionary at the time!), while 1984 brought peak '80s spectacle with laser shows, simulated flying saucers and a 750-member marching band at the closing ceremony. So naturally, expectations are high for what LA28 will deliver.
This time around, they're adding some very American sports to the lineup-like flag football-while bringing back cricket for the first time since 1900 and completely reimagining the Opening Ceremony with a never-before-attempted dual-venue format. With over 15,000 athletes competing in 351 medal events across 36 sports, the 2028 Olympics are shaping up to be the most ambitious Summer Games in recent memory. Here's everything you need to know about LA 2028!
When Are the 2028 Summer Olympics?
The 2028 Summer Olympics officially run from July 14–30, 2028, though some preliminary competitions will kick off as early as July 13. The opening ceremony happens on Friday, July 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET, and the closing ceremony wraps everything up on Sunday, July 30 at the LA Memorial Coliseum.
The 2028 Paralympics follow immediately after, running from August 15–27, 2028, marking LA's first time ever hosting the Paralympics. That's 23 sports-including the debut of paraclimbing-all contested at the same venues used for the Olympics.
Fair warning if you're planning to attend the 2028 Olympics: July in Los Angeles means beautiful beach weather along the coast, but potentially brutal inland heat. Expect temperatures in the 80s and 90s Fahrenheit near the water, with triple-digit temperatures possible in venues farther from the ocean. Pack your sunscreen and stay hydrated!
When Do 2028 Olympics Tickets Go On Sale?
Tickets for the 2028 Olympics are already in motion. The first registration window for the LA28 Ticket Draw ran January 14 through March 18, 2026, with Drop 1 ticket sales taking place April 9-19, 2026 for fans who scored a time slot.
The draw system means you register for specific sessions you want to attend, then get selected (or not) when tickets are allocated. It's designed to give everyone a fair shot rather than creating a mad rush that crashes websites and favors people with the fastest internet connections. Drop 2 is set for August 2026, with rolling drops continuing through the lead-up to the Games.
Tickets start at $28, with at least one million tickets at that price point. Paralympic tickets go on sale in 2027. For those who want guaranteed access, hospitality packages through On Location (the official hospitality provider) offer premium seating, exclusive lounge access and accommodations bundled together.
Why Are LA 2028 Olympic Ticket Prices So Expensive?
While LA28 promised tickets starting at just $28, the reality has caused major sticker shock for fans who scored time slots in the first ticket draw. Some 2028 Olympics tickets are going for $1,000 or more, with opening ceremony seats reportedly priced at over $5,000. One of Parade's editors, Colleen Broomall, was thrilled to win the ticket draw lottery, only to be floored by the pricing. "The $28 is not representative of pricing for the popular events," she told me. "I paid $557.36 for two tickets to the women's basketball championship-and that included an $84.50 service fee. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but that was way beyond my planned budget."
The contrast with the 1984 LA Olympics is striking. Tickets to the 1984 Games started at just $3-about $10 today adjusted for inflation-and opening ceremony seats went for around $100, the equivalent of about $300 in today's dollars. Now, those same opening ceremony tickets are reaching 50 times that price.
LA28 has responded to the backlash, emphasizing that at least one million tickets are priced at $28 and that a third of all tickets are under $100. Organizers also point to outside factors driving up costs, including bots, brokers and resellers snapping up high-demand inventory. Still, with Drop 2 set for August 2026, fans are watching closely to see whether prices come down-or whether the affordability promise was, as one ticket lottery winner put it to The Times, "total incompetence or a total lie."
Where Will the 2028 Olympics Be Held?
While Los Angeles is the official host city, calling these the "LA Olympics" is honestly underselling it. The 2028 Olympics location spans nearly 50 competition venues spread across Southern California and beyond-from San Diego to San Jose, with softball and canoe slalom all the way out in Oklahoma City.
The organizing committee arranged venues into geographic clusters to make navigation easier. The DTLA (Downtown Los Angeles) Zone includes venues like Crypto.com Arena, the LA Convention Center and Peacock Theater, while the Inglewood Zone features the massive SoFi Stadium and the brand-new Intuit Dome. Meanwhile, Long Beach hosts its own cluster along the waterfront, and venues in Pasadena, Venice Beach, Orange County and the San Fernando Valley round out the Southern California footprint.
This is the first Summer Olympics in 80 years to not build any new permanent venues-organizers are using existing stadiums, arenas and facilities that were already part of LA's sports infrastructure. It's a sustainability play that also saves massive amounts of money, following the model that made the 1984 LA Games financially successful.
Related: The Top 23 Moments in Team USA's Summer Olympics History
What's the Deal With the Dual Opening Ceremony?
Here's where things get interesting. For the first time in Olympic history, the 2028 opening ceremony will be co-hosted by two venues simultaneously: SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and the LA Memorial Coliseum.
The Coliseum holds special significance-it hosted both the 1932 and 1984 LA Olympics, and the 2028 Games will make it the first stadium ever to host three different Olympiads. Including it in the dual opening ceremony not only honors that legacy, but also acknowledges that the nearly century-old venue-built in 1923-can't accommodate the scale of modern Olympic ceremonies alone.
SoFi Stadium, meanwhile, is one of the most technologically advanced sports facilities on the planet. The $5 billion venue opened in 2020 as home to the NFL's LA Rams and Chargers, and boasts an Infinity Screen by Samsung-also known as the Oculus-that's basically a high-tech miracle. Combining the historic Coliseum with ultra-modern SoFi creates a past-meets-future vibe that feels very LA.
The closing ceremony will be held exclusively at the Coliseum on July 30, bringing things full circle at the venue where LA's Olympic story began in 1932.
What New Sports Are Being Added for LA 2028?
Six sports are either making their Olympic debut or returning after long absences, and they're a fascinating mix of very American additions and long-overdue comebacks.
1. Flag Football
This fun sport makes its Olympic debut, bringing a non-contact version of American football to the global stage. Given that the NFL is a cultural juggernaut in the US, this feels like a natural addition for an LA-hosted Games. The sport will be played at BMO Stadium (called Exposition Park Stadium during the Olympics) right next to the Coliseum.
2. Squash
After years of lobbying from the global squash community, the sport will also debut at LA 2028. The fast-paced racquet sport has a devoted following worldwide and will finally get its Olympic moment in the Comcast Squash Center located at Universal Studios.
3. Cricket
Cricket returns for the first time in 128 years! It was last seen at the 1900 Paris Olympics and its inclusion reflects cricket's explosive global popularity-particularly in India, Pakistan, Australia and the Caribbean. Matches will be held at a temporary cricket stadium built at the Fairplex in Pomona, which is about 30 miles east of Los Angeles.
4. Lacrosse
Another sport back after a century-long absence is lacrosse, last played in the 1908 Summer Games. But this time, there's a twist: Instead of traditional 10-player teams, the Olympics will feature a "sixes" format with just six players per side, making for faster, more dynamic gameplay.
5. Baseball
Baseball returns to the Olympics after being left out of the Paris 2024 program. The sport will be played at Dodger Stadium-one of baseball's most legendary ballparks. Did anyone say Dodger dog?
6. Softball
Softball also makes its Olympic comeback after getting benched in the 2024 Olympics-and the timing couldn't be better. The sport is having a major cultural moment, with the 2025 Women's College World Series averaging a record 1.3 million viewers per game and outdrawing the Men's College World Series for the first time in history.
However, unlike most LA 2028 events, softball heads out of state to Oklahoma City-the U.S. softball capital-where existing facilities will host the women's tournament. (Per IOC tradition, baseball is contested as a men's sport and softball as a women's sport at the Olympics.)
All told, the 2028 Olympics will feature 351 medal events-22 more than Paris 2024-spread across 36 sports. New mixed-gender team events in archery, athletics, gymnastics, golf, rowing and table tennis will further expand the program.
Photos: See Parade's Olympics Covers Through the Years
Where Will Swimming Be Held at the 2028 Olympics?
In perhaps the most audacious venue decision, swimming at the 2028 Olympics will be held at SoFi Stadium. Yes, the football stadium. Organizers plan to install a massive temporary pool inside the arena, creating what will be the largest swimming venue in Olympic history with capacity for 38,000 spectators.
This is a dramatic departure from traditional Olympic aquatics venues, but it speaks to LA28's commitment to using existing facilities rather than building new ones. The original plan called for constructing a temporary pool at USC's Dedeaux Field, but that was scrapped to save costs.
Artistic swimming (synchronized swimming) will take place in Long Beach, while diving moves to the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena-a facility built with leftover funds from the 1984 LA Olympics.
Which Iconic LA Venues Will Host the 2028 Olympics?
Some of LA's most legendary sports and entertainment venues are getting in on the Olympic action, creating unique settings you won't see at most Games.
The LA Memorial Coliseum hosts athletics (track and field) and becomes the first venue to host three Olympics. Dodger Stadium-one of baseball's most iconic ballparks-naturally hosts Olympic baseball. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena stages the soccer finals, joining the LA Memorial Coliseum as the only stadiums in the world to host three Olympic Games.
Crypto.com Arena-home to the Lakers, Kings and Sparks-handles artistic gymnastics, trampoline and the boxing finals, while the brand-new Intuit Dome hosts basketball. SoFi Stadium pulls double duty with both the opening ceremony and swimming.
But LA28 is also embracing unconventional venues that showcase Southern California's diversity. Long Beach's Alamitos Beach hosts beach volleyball, while skateboarding heads to the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area in the San Fernando Valley.Santa Anita Park in Arcadia-famous for thoroughbred racing-handles equestrian events. And perhaps most unexpectedly, Trestles Beach in San Diego County (located between LA and San Diego) hosts surfing at one of the world's most famous surf breaks.
Even Universal Studios Hollywood is in on the action, hosting squash at the Comcast Squash Center. Point is, the willingness to think creatively about venues sets LA 2028 apart.
Will 2028 Olympics Events Be Held Outside California?
Yes-in a cost-saving move that's generated some debate, two sports will be contested in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, about 1,350 miles from Los Angeles.
Softball will use Devon Park (the longtime home of the Women's College World Series), while canoe slalom heads to Riversport OKC-both existing venues that saved organizers from building temporary facilities in Southern California. It's a practical decision that saves money and reduces environmental impact. But it also means those sports won't have the full Olympic atmosphere of being in the host city during the Games.
Soccer (football) preliminaries will also be played nationwide before the knockout rounds move to California. Confirmed preliminary venues include stadiums in New York, Columbus (Ohio), St. Louis, Nashville, San Jose and San Diego. The match schedule will progressively move west as teams advance, minimizing travel for finalists.
This distributed approach reflects modern Olympic realities-it's often more efficient to use existing world-class facilities than to build new ones that might not get used after the Games end.
Related: 125 Olympics Trivia Questions and Answers to Test Your Knowledge of the Games' History
How Many People Will Attend the 2028 Olympics?
Organizers expect over 15,000 athletes to compete across the Olympics and Paralympics combined. Add in coaches, officials, media, sponsors and spectators, and you're looking at millions of people descending on Southern California over the summer of 2028.
The exact spectator count will depend on venue capacities and ticketing strategies, but with SoFi Stadium alone holding 38,000 for swimming and the Coliseum seating over 77,000 for athletics, individual sessions could draw massive crowds. LA28 plans to sell roughly 14 million tickets total-the equivalent of selling out four entire Dodger Stadium seasons in a single month-according to LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover. LA's extensive hotel infrastructure and transportation network will be tested like never before.
Hoover also shared that a 50-state torch relay is planned to kick off in April 2028, designed to "bind the nation to LA and California." That's a whole lot of build-up before the Games even begin!
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This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 6:44 AM.