Follow The Sun to Olympic Agenda 2020 - Day 6: Forging relationships with professional leagues
U.S. Professional Sports Leagues Get Behind LA 2024
MLS, MLB, NFL join NBA, WNBA in support of bid
LOS ANGELES - Today LA 2024 announced that Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer and the National Football League have joined the National Basketball Association and the Women’s National Basketball Association in support of Los Angeles’ bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The announcement reflects LA 2024’s focus on the future of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements. LA 2024’s Games Plan is designed to ensure all sports are able to tap into America’s $250 billion sports market. LA 2024 will leverage the professional sports leagues’ ready-made connections to existing fan bases and the global youth market, as well as their expertise in dynamic sports presentation, to encourage a new generation of Olympic and Paralympic believers.
In addition to the leagues’ support, LA 2024 benefits from the strategic insight and deep experience of individual professional teams owners and executives on its Board of Directors, including industry leaders like LA Dodgers, LAFC, and LA Sparks owner Earvin "Magic" Johnson and LA Kings Co-owner Ed Roski, Jr.
The announcement is part of the bid’s #FollowTheSun to Olympic Agenda 2020 campaign, comprising 20 announcements in 20 days to show how LA 2024 will contribute to the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020 strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement. Olympic Agenda 2020’s Recommendation 8 encourages the Olympic Movement to forge relationships with professional leagues.
Partnerships with America's top professional leagues will also help LA 2024: ensure the field of play for the athletes is always "state-of-the-art for all competitions", per Recommendation 2.3; create an engaging "'sports lab' or sports initiation programmes to trigger youth involvement", per Recommendation 6.3; and "engage with the general public... and youth", per Recommendations 23.3 and 23.4.
Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber said: "MLS is proud to support Los Angeles’ bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. LA truly embraces the spirit of sport and is the ideal city to represent and reinforce Olympic values while creating an unforgettable, state-of-the-art Games experience for a global audience."
Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr., said: "Major League Baseball strongly supports the bid by Los Angeles to host the 2024 Olympic Games. Los Angeles is known for its diverse culture, rich sports history and beautiful weather and would be the perfect location for the Olympics and Paralympics. I wish success to everyone associated with the effort to bring the Games back to Los Angeles."
National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell said: "The NFL enthusiastically supports LA 2024. Los Angeles is a legendary sports town. When you combine that legacy with the grandeur of Hollywood and leading tech companies along its shores, Los Angeles is in the best position to produce a state-of-the art Olympic and Paralympic Games. LA’s unique, youthful and cutting-edge culture is guaranteed to inspire a new generation of sports fans."
LA 2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman said: "LA 2024 is honored to earn the broad support from MLS, MLB and NFL in addition to our support from the NBA and WNBA. The widespread support is demonstrative of LA 2024’s potential to engage new and dynamic partners to benefit the Olympic and Paralympic Movements for decades to come.
"LA 2024 is focused on the future of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements and we are fully committed to ensuring all sports are able to grow and tap into America’s $250 billion sports market and our 100 million young people. LA’s ten professional sports franchises and NCAA universities sell more than 12 million sports event tickets annually. The MLB, MLS and NFL are known worldwide for their visionary, state-of-the-art sports presentation, the caliber of which we are eager to bring to the Olympic and Paralympic Games."
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
Snapchat.com/add/la2024
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These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.
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