OKLAHOMA CITY — Mayor David Holt confirmed Friday that Oklahoma City has been chosen to host two 2028 Olympic sports: canoe slalom and softball.
“This is really happening,” said Holt at Friday’s news conference. “The Olympics are coming to OKC.”
Los Angeles will be the host city for the 2028 Olympic Games, dubbed “LA28,” but would have had to spend millions to even come close to what Oklahoma City already has in full use for those two sports.
In a unanimous vote approving venues for LA28 Friday, the Los Angeles City Council approved Oklahoma City to host the two sports.
In a news conference at Riversport Rapids, where the canoe slalom venue will be, Mayor David Holt emphasized the hard realities that made Oklahoma City such an attractive pick for the two sports:
- Oklahoma City’s Riversport Rapids is the “only whitewater venue west of the Mississippi,” said Holt.
- And, Oklahoma City’s Devon Park, annual home of the Softball World Series, is “the largest softball stadium in the world by two and a half times.”
Waiting since last summer
Last summer, city officials revealed that Oklahoma City had been chosen by the organizing committee for the 2028 Olympics.
However, there were notes of caution in that the Los Angeles City Council would still need to approve of the idea.
Holt talked to our reporter then about ways in which city leaders were already preparing ideas for how to be the best host for the two sports.
“We had a team in Paris [Summer Olympics 2024] representing various perspectives,” Holt told us. “There were people from OCPD, the City Manager’s office, the Chamber, the CVB, and of course the whitewater venue. It was really important to see everything with our own eyes, and I’m sure we all took lots of notes and made many observations that will prove valuable.”
Two venues already in use
Unlike other host cities in the past that had to build out venues, Oklahoma City already has the two venues that not only have been in full use for years, but have benefitted from that experience and have received regular improvements over time.
Riversport leadership said that they have continued to make modifications and improvements to their whitewater facilities and have improvements scheduled to be made before 2028.
And, Devon Park in just the past several years has had significant and heavy improvements to the park, adding a significant amount of seating as well as amenities for visiting teams and the news media.
Advantages of the brand for OKC
Mayor Holt emphasized what he considers to be a large long-term positive impact on Oklahoma City which is the Olympic brand.
“It transcends sports,” said Holt. “It is the strongest brand in the world.
“In the last 100 years, only two American cities have hosted, Los Angeles and Atlanta,” said Holt on Friday. “So to have this opportunity is obviously something that we never really imagined, because we’re very proud of our city, but we know kind of where we fit in the hierarchy of cities, and to have two full sports,…is something very unique.”
And, Holt was direct in answering the requisite so-what? test:
“Obviously, the two weeks of the event are going to be a great economic boom for the city, an opportunity for a very special spotlight,” said Holt.
“But I think in many ways, it’s the brand that you have forever after that … it will always be part of Oklahoma City’s identity, that we were a part of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and that for 17 days we were hosting events here that … hundreds of 1000s, if not millions of people came to Oklahoma City, and were exposed to Oklahoma City.”
“Who knows what all that will lead to? I just think it’s the kind of thing we’re going to be talking about for decades,” said Holt.
Former Senator Don Nickles’ advocacy
Oklahoma’s former Senator Don Nickles, who is now the Chairman and CEO of a Washington D.C. consulting and advocacy group, was present for the announcement and talked with Free Press after the news conference.
He has been directly involved in the 2028 Olympics since the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2028 hired The Nickles Group to lobby on their behalf starting in 2020, according to a brief note in Politico at the time.
As such he has been in a unique position to advocate for Oklahoma City. So, we asked him what it was that the committee found so attractive about Oklahoma City for the two venues.
“Well, I talked to Casey Wasserman about it years ago, who’s head of La 28, and he told me they were looking at Oklahoma City,” Nickles told Free Press. “And I said, Well, don’t look anymore. We want to make this happen, right?”
“It’s because of the tremendous foresight that the team has done here at River sport and in the kayaking facility, it’s a world-class kayaking facility they don’t have in California, they don’t have hardly anywhere else,” said Nickles. “And because of that foresight, I think of that it would have cost him a ton to try to duplicate it. And so it just made sense to do it here.”
Preparations begin
In the news conference Friday, Holt noted the next steps the city would need to take in preparation to host in 2028:
- Bring a resolution to the city council outlining the city government’s major commitments.
- Finalize the local host organization agreement with the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.
- Make announcements in the coming weeks and months about the local host organization and opportunities to celebrate and commence the countdown to the 2028 Olympics.
- Explore collaboration opportunities with the state government and tourism department.
- Organize a volunteer program to support the events. Up to 75,000 volunteers are expected to be needed for the sports.
- Assess the infrastructure needs, including temporary measures for transportation, public safety, and accommodations.
- Coordinate with LA28 on the Olympic Village component and other event-related requirements.
- Make improvements to the canoe slalom venue, including a new rapid block and other spectator-related upgrades.
Some infrastructure won’t see big changes
However, some large infrastructure items won’t need many changes or simply won’t have enough time to execute.
Mayor Holt said that in three years, there’s just not enough time to build new hotels, for example. However, where the Olympic Village will be and how that will be arranged is still a big question that will be answered in the coming months.
“I don’t think we’ll have major street changes,” City Manager Craig Freeman told Free Press after the news conference Friday. “But, transportation is going to be a part of this.”
Freeman said that there would be a group working with LA28 to determine the transportation needs around the metro during the event, which would also depend on where the Olympic Village will end be.
He said that the fixed route buses in OKC would probably continue, but there would possibly be a need for more routes to be developed for the events to accommodate the crowds.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
