Beverly Hills could spend up to $1 million on Olympic events for the 2028 Games, according to cost estimates presented to the LA28 Standing Committee on Thursday, Sept. 17.

The price tag hinges on one question: where to throw the watch party.

A watch party and concert at La Cienega Park would cost an estimated $173,426, according to the staff report prepared by Christopher Paulson, assistant Community Services director, and Matthew Brown, recreation services manager. The alternative, a street watch party in the Golden Triangle on a street such as Crescent, Canon or South Beverly Drive, would run $520,278 to $693,704, roughly three to four times more.

With the La Cienega option, the grand total for all proposed resident-focused events lands at $447,656 to $487,656. Choose the Golden Triangle, and the bill climbs to $967,934 to $1,007,934.

What's on the menu

Staff outlined 13 events total.

Six events totaling $135,050 can be absorbed by the Community Services Department's existing budget: Concerts on Canon with the city-owned stage ($82,600), a Torch Run 5K and community walk ($22,000), an Olympics and Paralympics Day of Play ($25,000), an art poster contest ($2,500), a Roxbury Olympic viewing lounge ($2,400) and a Youth Activity Passport Challenge ($550).

Seven more require a City Council funding allocation: the Concerts on Canon upgrade to a vendor-provided stage ($101,580), library programming ($22,500), the La Cienega Park watch party ($173,426), the Golden Triangle street party ($693,704), a Sister City cultural event ($10,000 to $50,000), the Torch Run 5K with full road closures ($92,000) and a Breakfast of Champions at Beverly Gardens Park ($17,700).

Staff cautioned that event production companies have warned prices quoted now could jump 10% to 50% if not booked soon, because demand for equipment, rentals and labor will surge as the Games approach.

Torch run and budget pressures

The city has already applied to host the Olympic torch relay through Beverly Hills en route to the Coliseum. The road closure alone would cost roughly $70,000 in police, fire, traffic control and public works time, based on estimates similar to the annual Los Angeles Marathon closure.

Staff also flagged that the department's ability to absorb costs for the Day of Play and the basic Torch Run 5K may not hold by 2028. New youth programs launching under a Joint Powers Agreement with the school district, approved in 2026, are expected to strain the operating budget.

Push for a plan

Councilmember Sharona Nazarian, one of the committee's two liaisons along with Vice Mayor Wells, has pushed since at least July to move from brainstorming to budgeting. At an Aug. 25 Small Business Assistance Task Force meeting, Nazarian said the city needed a concrete plan, as the Beverly Hills Courier reported: "We need to have a budget in place to know how to move forward."

The Sept. 17 staff report is the first document to attach dollar figures to the proposals, following direction from the committee's July 28 meeting.

What comes next

Funding for any events the committee prioritizes would go to the full City Council for review, either as a General Fund appropriation or a set-aside from the Tourism Marketing budget funded by the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT). The next quarterly Council check-in is scheduled for Oct. 20. The committee's next bi-monthly meeting is set for November.