2024 Olympics to Bolster the Local Economy by $11B

with Robert A. Kleinhenz is an economist and senior research director at Beacon Economics.

LOS ANGELES—If Los Angeles gets its way and wins the bid to host the 2024 Olympics, it would boost the local economy by $11.2 billion and the national economy by $18.3 billion, according to a report from Beacon Economics and the University of California, Riverside School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development. In addition to the increased economic output, the report shows that additional benefits will include additional tax revenues of between $152 and $167 million, between 74,308 and 79,307 new full-time jobs, between $6.72 and $7.07 billion in direct additional spending, and worker earnings of between $4.88 and $5.11 billion.

The city, which has hosted an Olympics in the past, already has the infrastructure in place to accommodate the games, and that is a major benefit in boosting economic output. “This will require virtually no investment in infrastructure, specifically for the Olympics itself,” Robert Kleinhenz, executive director of research at both Beacon Economics and the UC Riverside School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development. “That is to say that there is no need to build new stadiums or quarters for the teams; all of that will be done by making use of existing infrastructure. That makes it a lot easier for the L.A. 2024 bid to say that it is going to be possible to do they without being a burden to local taxpayers and local governments. The dollar amounts are impressive, but they would be much more impressive if there was a whole capital program, including expenditures that we would have to go through.”