From surfing at Trestles State Beach to artistic gymnastics at the Crypto.com Arena, the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics will have a huge footprint at forty different venues.
But two sporting events won’t take place anywhere near L.A.: softball and canoe slalom will happen 1,327 miles away in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
OKC Olympic venues
OKC’s state-of-the-art McClendon Whitewater Center at Riversport OKC will host the canoe slalom event. It turns out that there’s no major canoe slalom venue anywhere in the Western U.S., and this world-class center where Team USA trains is perfectly fit for international competition. In fact, it hosted the U.S. Olympic team trials ahead of the Paris Olympics. As for canoe sprint, rowing, para rowing, and para canoe, those events will still take place in L.A. County at Long Beach’s Marine Stadium.
Oklahoma City’s 13,000-seat Devon Park will host Olympic softball in 2028. As the world’s largest softball stadium, Devon Park is well-equipped to handle the influx of Olympic fans. The park has previously hosted the Women’s College World Series and numerous international softball events.
No new venues for LA28
LA28 organizers requested to host canoeing and softball competitions in Oklahoma City to avoid building any new venues for the Games in Southern California. By hosting these events at OKC’s existing world-class venues, LA28 will save millions of dollars and uphold its sustainability efforts.
OKC 🤝 LAX
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass visited Oklahoma City on Friday, Sept. 26, to tour Riversport OKC and meet with Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt. Bass and Holt signed a memorandum of understanding between the two cities to celebrate the partnership.
“We are committed to delivering a successful no-build Olympics,” said Mayor Bass at a press conference. “That was very important because Olympics, as they happen around the world, get into trouble if they have to build all of the stadiums. And as you don’t need to build here and we don’t need to build in Los Angeles, it allows us to be assured that we will have Games that will not have any problems because we won’t meet certain deadlines.”
Early ticket access to residents near Olympic venues
Did you know that you may be eligible for early tickets to the Olympics if you live near an Olympic venue? Ticket registration will open in January 2026, at which point fans will be able to enter their information and wait to be assigned a ticket drop time slot. You can learn more about that and see the full list of L.A. venues here.