Organizers of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles announced on Thursday that they will allow sponsor names on venues, breaking with tradition.
Under the pilot programme, "qualifying LA28 partners will have the opportunity to keep existing venue naming rights during Games time," while partners of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and LA28 partners will have "the opportunity for naming rights of up to 19 temporary venues," organizers said.
They stressed that "standard clean venue Games policies" will continue to apply outside naming rights partners.
LA28 organizers announced that the first confirmed partnerships were with US media company Comcast, which owns NBC Universal and holds US broadcast rights for Summer and Winter Games until 2036, and Japanese carmaker Honda.
The purpose-built Comcast Squash Center will host squash's Olympic Games debut, while the Honda Center, home of National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, will retain its name when it hosts indoor volleyball.
"From the moment we submitted our bid, LA28 committed to reimagining what's possible for the Games," said organizing committee chairman Casey Wasserman.
"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."
Wasserman went on to say that the sponsor partnerships would "not only generate critical revenue for LA28 but will introduce a new commercial model to benefit the entire Movement."
"We're grateful to the IOC [International Olympic Committee] for making this transformation possible," he added.
The US government, unlike most countries, does not fund the country's Olympic team. The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is a non-profit organization and does not receive government funding. The IOC is contributing about $1.8 billion to the LA Games.
This will be the third time Los Angeles hosts the Olympic Games after doing so in 1932 and 1984. These will be the first Summer Games held in the United States since Atlanta 1996.
