Honda Center Among The World-Class Venues Named As Part Of La 2024 Fiscally Responsible And Innovative Olympic Games Plan

Sep. 22, 2016

Los Angeles 2024 has added the Honda Center in Anaheim; Long Beach’s Arena, Convention Center, Waterfront and Pier; and the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles as part of its new Games Plan. These existing world-class sports venues were added following months of consultations with the international sports federations and local communities as part of LA’s fiscally responsible and innovative bid to bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games back to the United States for the first time in 28 years.

The hallmark of LA 2024's high tech, low risk and sustainable new Games for a new era is the use of existing world-class venues. Using the region's sports infrastructure, LA 2024 does not have to worry about construction deadlines and cost overruns; instead, LA 2024 can focus on creating the ultimate experience for athletes and all attendees through cutting-edge field-of-play technology combined with the latest in sports entertainment and storytelling; training facilities co-located with Olympic and Paralympic Village accommodation or competition venues; and stadiums filled with celebrating fans from every nation.

With this enhanced Games Plan, LA 2024 is putting sports where they fit best in Southern California, engaging more communities across the region and immersing attendees in the rich culture, iconic sites and breathtaking natural beauty of LA as we invite the world to Follow the Sun.

The LA 2024 enhanced Games Concept offers two specific innovations. The first is an Olympic and Paralympic Village that offers extensive and fully integrated training facilities. UCLA’s previously designated competition venues, the tennis center and north athletic field, will now join Drake track and field stadium as part of the Village training center. With unprecedented convenience and quality for athletes, LA 2024’s Village and Training plan ensures all sports will either have training facilities at the Village or their competition venue, eliminating the need for additional travel.

The second innovation takes the concept of the Olympic Park to the next level by offering four unique Sports Parks, in Downtown Los Angeles, the South Bay, the Valley, and now Long Beach. By evolving the traditional concept of a singular, highly concentrated Olympic Park into a new city-wide model, the LA 2024 plan uses more world-class existing sports venues and brings the Games experience to more areas of Southern California than ever before. Beyond just locating sports close together, each Sports Park offers a multi-sport and entertainment experience within a secure perimeter where all attendees will be able to walk from one venue to another in a vibrant and lively atmosphere that will include food, music, celebration Live Sites, and the opportunity to see several events. The Parks all connect to LA’s growing public transit system, and are set among LA’s stunning backdrops, including its scenic coastline, unique topography and iconic landmarks such as the Hollywood Hills and City Hall.

LA 2024’s Sports Parks combine operational spaces and services for many sports, achieving significant savings that further LA 2024’s commitment to fiscal responsibility. With the new venues in Long Beach and Anaheim, the new Games Plan brings Olympic and Paralympic action closer to large population centers in Orange County, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, and exposes visitors to more of the region’s unique and diverse neighborhoods.

The Long Beach Sports Park will offer Handball in its Arena, a 13,500 seat facility that recently received $10 million in upgrades, along with warm-up facilities and other production space at its connected 224,000 square foot Convention Center; BMX and Water Polo in temporary facilities along the scenic Long Beach Waterfront; Marathon Swimming and Triathlon along the Long Beach Waterfront, with the later event using the existing IndyCar Series Grand Prix race course to minimize disruption to the community; and Sailing along the Long Beach Pier. The Long Beach Sports Park is 40 minutes from UCLA’s Olympic and Paralympic Villages, is next to two LA Metro Blue Line rail stations that connect to Downtown Los Angeles and LA’s transit network.

The Honda Center in Anaheim will host Volleyball, bringing the sport to a professional sports arena that seats more than 18,000 fans and is the home of the NHL Ducks franchise. In Orange County, the sport will be played 10 minutes from Disneyland and in a Volleyball hotbed, drawing the highest possible interest from spectators and creating the greatest legacy for the community. The arena is quickly accessible to Southern California's residents and visitors, conveniently located next to the Anaheim rail station with regional trains connecting Downtown Los Angeles in 40 minutes. Driving time from UCLA's Olympic and Paralympic Villages takes 55 minutes.

The legendary Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles will host men’s and women’s Golf, putting the sport at a George Thomas-designed course that has been the site of some of the most prestigious tournaments, including the US Open, two PGA Championships, and the PGA Tour’s annual tournament in Los Angeles. The Riviera has been home to PGA Tour pros and the biggest names in golf since 1929, and the course will play host to the Genesis Open and the Tiger Woods Foundation in February 2017 and the US Amateur in August 2017.

The Paralympic sport of Sitting Volleyball will remain at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, a 13,800 seat state-of-the art indoor arena that recently underwent $136 million in renovations.  Paralympic program changes are: Wheelchair Basketball at Staples Center, Wheelchair Rugby at the LA Convention Center, Para Triathlon at the Long Beach Waterfront and Football 5-a-side at South Bay Sports Park.

LA 2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman said: "We're very pleased to add more world-class existing venues to our fiscally responsible and innovative Games Plan for 2024. By relying on Southern California's wealth of top sports, housing and transportation infrastructure, LA 2024 will minimize construction risk, operational struggles and costs, and can focus on providing athletes with the perfect stage to perform their best, without distraction."

"The IOC's Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms encourage cities to be sustainable, efficient and go where our existing venues are, and that is what we have done with this enhanced Games Plan. Every time we have identified an opportunity to enhance our plan in line with the principles of Olympic Agenda 2020, we have taken it. And just like the stunning Rio 2016 Games, LA 2024 will stage events at feature our scenic coastline, diverse topography and iconic landmarks, creating a vibrant backdrop for a citywide celebration that engages the community and inspires the world."

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said: “Long Beach has a long history of hosting Olympic competitions and producing local Olympians and Paralympians. We are proud to join the LA 2024 team and will do everything we can to support Los Angeles and the United States bid. We are committed to ensuring that the Games provide an economic benefit to our hotels, tourism and community.”

Honda Center President and CEO Tim Ryan said: "We're thrilled to be selected as part of LA 2024's bid to bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games back to Southern California. Over the years we've invested significant capital and worked in partnership with the city of Anaheim to assure our facility remains state of the art, and it's certainly exciting to see those efforts recognized. We believe LA 2024 is the right choice as host city and are excited to now officially be in partnership with them to bring world-class Olympic athletics back to our area."

The Riviera Country Club Corporate Officer Michael R. Yamaki said: "We are honored and thrilled to be selected by LA 2024 for the opportunity to host the world's greatest golfers. The Riviera has been fortunate to host the US Open, the PGA Championship, the US Senior Open, and in 2017 we will be home to the US Amateur, the USGA's oldest championship. If we are privileged to bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games to Los Angeles in 2024, it will be quite exciting to see many of these same amateurs return to Riviera to compete for gold as professionals."

LA 2024's venue changes will be included as part of its Candidature File Part 2 to be submitted to the IOC on October 7, 2016. LA 2024’s Candidature File Part 3 will be submitted on February 3, 2017, with IOC members set to elect a 2024 Host City at the 130th IOC Session on September 13, 2017 in Lima, Peru.

For more information visit LA24.org.

LA 2024 can also be found on the following social media channels:
Twitter.com/LA2024
Facebook.com/LA2024
Instagram.com/LA2024
YouTube.com/LA2024
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