Los Angeles Proposes $4 Billion Budget for 2024 Olympics

(ATR) If picked as the United States bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles leaders plan to invest approximately $4.1 billion in the event.

Reports on Monday, citing L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, say that the proposal also includes a $400 million contingency. About $200 million of that contingency would cover city expenses.

Garcetti told the Los Angeles Times on Monday that the city, which hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984, is ready to stage the Games again.

"I think it is right for this city. I think it's who we are. I think we benefit from it economically."

Jeff Millman, the mayor's senior adviser, told the AP that the city plans to pull money for the Olympics from sources such as broadcast revenue, sponsorship and tickets rather than from city funding.

The USOC is scrambling to fill the void left with the withdrawal of Boston as the U.S. nominee last month. Boston's proposed budget for the 2024 Games was also under $5 billion.

Since being chosen in January as the U.S. bidder for 2024, Boston struggled to win public support and pledges from city and state government to back the Games.

On Tuesday, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced he is backing efforts to hold the 2024 Olympics in another U.S. city.

"The mayor has always believed that it would be great to bring the games back to the United States," Walsh spokeswoman Laura Oggeri said in a statement.

During the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, U.S. Olympic Committee chair and IOC member Larry Probst told Around the Rings that a choice will be made by the end of the month on a new city to bid for the 2024 Games.

"We're reconnecting with the other three finalists cities - San Francisco; L.A. and Washington, D.C. - to gauge their interest in potentially hosting the Games.

"We're going to take the feedback we get from each one of those cities and have a board discussion and make a decision about the path going forward. And that's going to take place by the end of August."

The USOC must submit a letter of intent to bid for the 2024 Olympics to the IOC by September 15.Budapest, Hamburg, Paris and Rome are the other cities bidding for the 2024 Games.

In referencing the vote that elected Beijing as the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Probst told ATR he was not surprised by the outcome. He said that with three Olympics in a row for Asia, he believes the chances are good for a bid from the U.S. in 2024.

"We've always thought we've had a great chance of hosting the Games in 2024, and I think that opportunity still exists and we're excited about it," he says.

Written byNicole Bennett

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