Source: Politics<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES \u2014 Paul Krekorian, head of Los Angeles\u2019 Office of Major Events, was driving to SoFi Stadium for the U.S. soccer team\u2019s opening match against Paraguay when he found himself stuck in a traffic jam, trapped behind a mess of unmoving cars on a side street in Inglewood.<\/p>\n
The problem: A self-driving Waymo vehicle was at the head of the line, attempting \u2014 without success \u2014 to make an unprotected left turn onto Manchester Boulevard, a busy thoroughfare.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt couldn\u2019t figure out that it was never, ever going to be able to make that left turn,\u201d said Krekorian, a former LA City Council member appointed to the newly created major events role<\/a> by Mayor Karen Bass.<\/p>\n He was annoyed. But what Krekorian actually saw was an opportunity \u2014 to correct a problem ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics, which will use the $5 billion-plus stadium<\/a> for swimming events<\/a> and the opening ceremony. It is the way many local officials are watching the World Cup unfold here: monitoring everything from the performance of traffic signals to signs of political unrest as a stress test for the Olympics.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of just steaming about it, I was thinking: OK, how are we going to geofence Waymos?\u201d Krekorian said. \u201cHow are we going to work with the transportation network companies to make sure that we have effective pick-up and drop-off locations? All of that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n The messy lead-up to the World Cup<\/a> \u2014 marked by weak hotel bookings, high ticket prices and security concerns \u2014 left some in LA leadership circles worried about the fate of the tournament, and its implications for the Olympics here. The World Cup\u2019s economic benefit to the region remains a big question mark, and its early run in LA has revealed pressure points. In interviews with POLITICO, state and federal officials said they were concerned about reports of traffic jams in Inglewood<\/a>. They also lamented the high cost of parking and tickets to the matches, the latter a longstanding complaint among soccer fans who\u2019ve been priced out of attending the tournament, and a source of frustration among California elected officials who have demanded answers from FIFA<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe saw three to five hours of congestion just for people to go to SoFi to pay $200 for parking,\u201d said LA City Council member Bob Blumenfield. \u201cSeeing some of those things, obviously, LA28 is a much larger footprint, so \u2026 we really are going to have to focus on the transit element of all this. And obviously, with the Olympics, we are thinking about that.\u201d<\/p>\n Los Angeles will host its fourth match of the World Cup today, between Iran and Belgium, the most of any venue thus far. It has avoided the major disruptions some had feared. And after more than a week of competition<\/a> \u2014 including two high-profile games<\/a> at SoFi Stadium, one of them\u00a0involving Iran\u2019s team<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 Los Angeles politicians are more confident than ever that the city can pull off the upcoming global sports gathering that has been in the works for almost a decade<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMuch of what we\u2019ve done in preparation for welcoming the world for the World Cup will be applicable to what we will do in \u201828 for the Olympic and Paralympic Games,\u201d Krekorian said. \u201cThere\u2019s a palpable excitement here to be hosting the World Cup, and this is only a fraction of what we\u2019ll see when it comes time for \u201828.\u201d<\/p>\n The stakes are unusually high in Los Angeles \u2014 perhaps more so than in any of the other 10 World Cup host cities in the U.S. \u2014 because a major misstep would inevitably raise questions about the region\u2019s ability to put on the Olympics. The city has already been the target of criticism from conservative personalities and politicians who questioned Democratic leaders here after the January 2025 firestorms, including the late Charlie Kirk<\/a> and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)<\/a>, both of whom suggested the Games should be moved elsewhere. If the World Cup is a success \u2014 eight games will be played here over several weeks \u2014 it would demonstrate that a liberal, blue-state city can still pull off a complex mega-event.<\/p>\n Reynold Hoover, CEO of LA28, the Games\u2019 organizing committee, told POLITICO he and his team are paying close attention to the soccer tournament \u2014 and that once it concludes, they will analyze data ranging from public transportation ridership and fan zone attendance to spectator flows in and around SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an opportunity not just for LA, but for the country to show that we can actually do something really big together,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd when you look at the World Cup and what you\u2019re seeing here in the United States, I think that\u2019s a precursor, and I think both sides of the aisle see the value of having the Summer Olympics here in the United States for the first time since 1996.\u201d<\/p>\n Concerns remain here, including about the cost of attendance. Blumenfield might benefit from attending a World Cup match at SoFi Stadium given that he is on the council\u2019s ad hoc committee involved in preparations for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. But that\u2019s not in the cards: \u201cIt\u2019s too rich for my blood \u2014 I can\u2019t afford a ticket,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Indeed, tickets to local World Cup matches have been climbing: the get-in price for Sunday\u2019s Iran-Belgium contest is nearly $900<\/a> on one resale platform.<\/p>\n Transit remains a major issue, too \u2014 and one that several elected officials said they are monitoring closely.<\/p>\n Rep. Laura Friedman, who called the World Cup \u201ca great dress rehearsal\u201d for the 2028 Games, said it is paramount that Olympic organizers build on public transit gains from the soccer tournament. According to Los Angeles Metro data, ridership on Metro buses serving SoFi Stadium increased 41 percent<\/a> from the first World Cup match at the venue to the second. While Friedman praised Metro for \u201cperforming very well,\u201d she said that \u201cfor the Olympics we can try to increase\u201d use of public transit.<\/p>\n \u201cAt SoFi Stadium, we have seen very expensive parking fees, we\u2019ve seen a lot of congestion, long travel times,\u201d said Friedman, a Burbank Democrat. \u201cEspecially for foreign visitors who may not be renting a car, they expect to be able to take public transportation \u2014 easily and safely.\u201d<\/p>\n For all the comparisons of the two events, the Olympic Games are a vast enterprise many times larger than the World Cup \u2014 a fact not lost on local elected officials who caution against an apples-to-apples comparison. \u201cThe success of the World Cup at SoFi underscores our ability as a city to be able to manage these types of large-scale events,\u201d said LA City Council member Monica Rodriguez, who also is on the ad hoc 2028 Games committee. \u201cThe difference with the Olympics is that we\u2019re going to have multiple venues that are going to be hosting all at the same time. \u2026 So my primary concern is about the cost of security.\u201d<\/p>\n On that front, LA has avoided major public security problems during the World Cup. The closest thing to a controversy at LA\u2019s matches has been the uneven enforcement of FIFA\u2019s ban<\/a> on the display of Iran\u2019s pre-revolution flag<\/a> inside the stadium during the team\u2019s draw with New Zealand on Monday.<\/p>\n