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LA Olympics breaks tradition with sponsored venues
Nicholas Quinlan • August 16th, 2025 8:55 pm
The Los Angeles Olympic Organising Committee have signed deals which will see it break the long-honoured tradition of having sponsorless Olympic venues.
The deal, which was announced on Thursday, has seen Honda and telecommunications company Comcast be the first two companies to sign on.
From this deal, the Japanese car brand maintains its naming rights on the Honda Centre in Anaheim during the 17-day competition, which is set to host indoor volleyball. Comcast, which owns NBC, will have the naming rights for the squash venue, which will be temporary structure.
Speaking in a statement, LA Olympics President Casey Wasserman believes that unlocking this commercial revenue could help achieve their goal of funding the games without needing government money.
“From the moment we submitted our bid, LA28 committed to reimagining what’s possible for the Games,” he said.
“Today’s historic announcement delivers on that promise, creating the first-ever venue naming rights program in Olympic and Paralympic history while advancing LA28’s mission of a fully privately funded and no-new-build Games.”
With this partnership program, it will also give the current naming rights partner on existing venues such as SoFi Stadium (Opening & Closing ceremony and swimming), BMO Stadium (flag football, lacrosse) and Intuit Dome (basketball) a chance to have their sponsorship remain during the competition.
If they choose to reject this, the venue will remain in line with the tradition of being sponsorless.
There will also be an opportunity for existing Olympic and Paralympic partners to get in on the action, with the ability to purchase naming rights on the remaining 19 temporary venues.
The program is in pilot mode, meaning that if the IOC deems it successful, it could be an option for the Brisbane Olympic Organising Committee to consider helping make up any potential shortfall in funding for hosting the 2032 Olympics.
It could also help encourage other cities/nations to bid for the Olympics by allowing for additional funding revenues that could make these events more affordable, considering that every Olympics since 1960 has run over budget.
Although given that the Brisbane Olympics is receiving both federal and state government funding compared to LA, which is not, this may be off the table.
The 2028 Olympics will take place between July 14 and July 30. The Paralympics will take place between August 15 and August 27.
