LA28 has withheld contractor names and venue budgets from financial reports required under its agreement with Los Angeles, a Times investigation found.
The findings, first reported by the Los Angeles Times on Monday, Sept. 28, carry direct consequences for Bel Air and Holmby Hills residents. As Los Angeles city taxpayers, they serve as the fiscal backstop for any 2028 Olympic deficit under the 2017 Host City Contract and the 2021 Games Agreement.
LA28's contracts grew to $687 million in value in 2025, according to the Times. But the 2024 and 2025 annual reports no longer named the contractors or the amount paid to each. Instead, they listed only broad categories such as "engineering consulting services," "mascot design and production" and "office buildout."
That marks a reversal. In earlier reports from 2021 through 2023, LA28 identified its $1-million-and-up contractors by name and deal value. Among them: AECOM, which received more than $6.7 million for technical consulting and planning, plus Deloitte for consulting and Gavin de Becker and Associates for security.
Controller set Sept. 28 deadline for records
Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia demanded on Aug. 27 that LA28 release far more detailed records, including bank statements, revenue-versus-expenditure comparisons and a granular breakdown of budget categories labeled only "other revenues" and "other expenses." He set a deadline of Monday, Sept. 28.
As of the Times' publication, LA28 had given no indication it would comply.
"If LA28 does not do well, then we as taxpayers, as the fiscal backstop, we're on the hook," Mejia told the Times.
Mejia's office determined LA28 complies with only two of nine required disclosure subsections under the 2021 Games Agreement, Spectrum News reported in August. Six subsections were incomplete and one was listed as unknown.
$7.2 billion budget, one paragraph on venues
The 2021 Games Agreement, signed by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA28 Chairman Casey Wasserman, required annual reports to include all contracts over $1 million with "the name, type, amount, term and purpose," copies of purchased insurance policies and updates on venue infrastructure including schedules and budgets.
LA28's 99-page 2025 annual report offered just a single paragraph on venue preparation. It included none of the required schedules or budgets for the 49 competition locations spread across Southern California and Oklahoma City, the Times found.
The overall Olympic budget has grown from $5.306 billion in 2017 to $7.263 billion, according to the controller's office. Under the city services agreement the Los Angeles City Council approved 10-4 on Aug. 12, if the Games run a deficit beyond $600 million, the city must cover $270 million. Beyond that threshold, the city faces unlimited liability.
LA28 spokesperson Jacie Prieto Lopez said the organization provided required insurance policies to the city directly and that prior annual reports had been accepted. The organization told city advisors Matt Szabo and Sharon Tso that publishing specific contractor details is "financially detrimental" to future competitive contracts, according to the Times. LA28 shared the detailed information only with those advisors and the mayor's office.
Mayor Karen Bass and City Council members have accepted LA28's annual reports since 2021 without publicly pressing for the details Mejia and the Times have sought. The Times described Mejia as "virtually alone" in demanding more information from the Olympic organizers.
Mejia said Monday, Sept. 28, he would review his charter-mandated authorities before deciding next steps. The controller's deadline has now passed with no public response from LA28.
