LA 28 is searching for a home for the Olympic Games beach volleyball competition after the local organizing committee and Santa Monica city officials mutually agreed to discontinue negotiations.
LA 28 also has yet to secure a contract to use the Honda Center as the venue to host the Olympic indoor volleyball competition, an Anaheim City official confirmed.
A 12,000-seat beach volleyball stadium in the self-proclaimed birthplace of the beach game with the iconic Santa Monica Pier in the background was one of the cornerstones of an original venue plan that was instrumental in LA 28 convincing the International Olympic Committee to award Los Angeles the 2028 Olympics, the city’s third Games.
But a financial impact study commissioned by Santa Monica city officials that while hosting the Olympic beach volleyball competition would generate $14.09 million in revenue, the city would also incur $15.54 million in expenses leaving the city with a $1.45 million deficit. That same study found that Santa Monica didn’t host the beach competition it would still generate $11.3 million from tourism against $650,000 in expenses for a profit of $10.65 million.
“Taken together, these findings suggest that choosing to host the Olympic beach volleyball competition translates to a net loss of roughly $2.10 million to the City,” the study said.
An October 2024 Santa Monica city staff report also stated that “The financial uncertainties related to hosting beach volleyball are compounded by the lack of clarity on the reimbursement terms. Moreover, the Games Agreement also prevents Santa Monica from pursuing alternative revenue opportunities, and precludes traditional revenue sources from both City-hosted special events and privately hosted events by Pier lessees and other local businesses, unless approved by LA28. The potential legal risks associated with signing the agreement are significant, as it binds the City to hosting beach volleyball and limits flexibility to negotiate key terms after the Games Agreement is executed.”
The Santa Monica city officials said in a statement “Despite good-faith efforts to reach a deal that would benefit both the Santa Monica community and work for LA28, ultimately the two parties were not able to agree to terms around community benefits, operational details and financial guarantees.”
LA 28 told the city on Friday it planned to hold beach volleyball at another location.
“There is no better place to host the Olympic beach volleyball competition than Santa Monica, where the sport was born. We would have loved to be a venue city in 2028,” Mayor Lana Negrete said. “While we’re disappointed that an agreement was not realized, we remain eager to share in the excitement the Olympics will bring to our region and are looking forward to being a regional partner in this historic event.”
Huntington Beach and Long Beach are possible sites to replace Santa Monica as the beach volleyball host. Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach, two South Bay communities with long histories hosting beach volleyball events could not logistically host the Olympic competition, according to two people familiar with the situation.
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