LA28 announces use of new yet-to-open $780m stadium that is set to help make Olympic Games history

The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics haven’t even begun yet, kicking off on February 6.

But some eyes are already steering their focus to the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Games.

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On Tuesday, the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games announced six additional venues for the 2028 Olympic Football (Soccer) Tournaments.

These venues will be located all across the United States in metropolitan areas of the following: New York, New York; Nashville, Tennessee; San Diego, California; Columbus, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; and San José, California.

“Bringing Olympic Football group stage and knockout matches to stadiums across the United States means more fans will witness this global event and experience the Olympic spirit firsthand,” LA28 Chief of Sport and Games Delivery Officer Shana Ferguson said.

“With the LA28 Ticket Draw for all Olympic sports on the horizon, we’re inviting global Football fans to register now for a chance to secure their tickets to history in the summer of 2028.”

Whilst group stage games and knockout matches will take place across the country, the medal matches will be held the iconic Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California – the oldest college football bowl.

In its illustrious history, the Rose Bowl has played host to some of North America’s biggest events, including the 1994 FIFA World Cup Final between Brazil and Italy, and the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup final between the USWNT and China.

The latter became infamous for U.S. defender Brandi Chastain’s winning penalty and her iconic celebration, in which she swung her shirt around in the air, being used to depict the exact moment women’s sport changed forever.

The attendance for the contest was 90,185, which was claimed to be a world record for a women’s sports event at the time, with the 1999 USWNT squad recognized as national heroes, and spearheading the growth of women’s soccer as it has come to be known today.

The gold medal matches are slated to take place on July 28, 2028 for the men’s tournament and July 29, 2029 for the women’s tournament.

History in the making

According to LA28’s newsroom, they worked closely with Soccer United Marketing (SUM), a commercial affiliate of Major League Soccer (MLS) to rigorously evaluate all the available stadiums in order to select which they felt were most appropriate.

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There, they chose venues that met the “highest international standards” and assessing their ability to “host world-class competitions and its potential to engage local communities.”

Even Etihad Park, which is set to become the new home of New York City FC who currently play at Yankee Stadium, was selected, despite its $780 million ‘cube’ construction having not yet been completed.

The curated list of stadiums has been carefully designed from a logistical standpoint in accordance with minimizing travel demands and the various factors associated with that.

This includes a particular focus on athlete well-being, such as giving participating athletes increased time to recover, etc.

As such, the competition will move progressively from the east to the west coast as the tournament nears the final stages.

There is also currently some ongoing discussion about extending the competition window, which would see “preliminary matches taking place prior to the Opening Ceremony.”

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Nonetheless, the LA28 Summer Olympics is set to see history made.

This comes as the women’s football (soccer) competition will be expanded to a 16-team format, whilst the men’s tournament will feature just 12 teams.

Thus, this will mark the first time ever that an Olympic Games will see all team sports have at least as many women’s teams as men’s.

All this has been done in an effort to establish “a new benchmark for elevating women’s sports and advancing gender parity in the Games while laying the groundwork for a lasting impact on global sport.”