LA Olympics opens door to naming rights

The Olympics, a tradition spanning more than 130 years, is set to break with precedent. Organizers of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games said in August last year they would sell venue naming rights to generate new revenue, marking the first such move in Olympic history.

The International Olympic Committee has long barred the practice to limit commercial use of the Games. During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, for example, Ajinomoto Stadium was renamed “Tokyo Stadium” for the duration of the event.

This time, however, the IOC approved the Los Angeles organizers’ request, signaling a shift as hosting costs rise and pressure grows to reduce reliance on public funding. The Guardian reported the decision followed years of internal debate and reflects how deeply naming rights are embedded in U.S. sports culture.

The Los Angeles organizing committee has already reached agreements with Honda and Comcast. Honda Center, home to the Anaheim Ducks, will retain its name during the Olympics while hosting volleyball matches. A temporary squash venue at Universal Studios Hollywood will be called the Universal Studios Comcast Squash Center.

Organizers plan to sell naming rights for up to 19 temporary venues. The “clean venue” policy, which bans advertising inside competition sites, will remain in place. “This historic shift creates an opportunity for unprecedented revenue,” the committee said, adding that support from the International Olympic Committee made the plan possible.

The IOC has described the initiative as a pilot program and left open the possibility of broader adoption. “We will examine whether this can be applied when selecting future host cities,” the committee said, adding that it will consider conditions in the global naming rights market.


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