Saturday 30 May 2020, 20:39

Candidate Host City: Los Angeles

In 1769, Spanish explorers founded the new town of Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles, Our Lady the Queen of the Angels. Pioneers and the gold seekers increased the population, some succeeding and investing in the growing city, establishing businesses, and building libraries, museums, hotels and theaters. The movie industry came to the area in the late 1800s. Today, the Native American and Spanish architectural and cultural influences sit comfortably alongside the glitz of Hollywood and the cosmopolitan energy of greater Los Angeles.

The city has a long and storied history of hosting the world’s biggest sporting events in some of the best and most dynamic stadiums in the world. Together with London and Paris, Los Angeles will be the only city to have hosted three Olympic Games. Seven Super Bowls have also been played at either the Memorial Coliseum or the Rose Bowl. Nicknamed the “Entertainment Capital of the World,” Los Angeles is also the leader in the creation of television shows, video games and recorded music. The FIFA World Cup 2026™ in Los Angeles would deliver one of the most diverse cities in America to support the promotion of human rights, environmental sustainability and the game of football.

Los Angeles was a founding city of Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a proud home of the North American Soccer League a generation ago. Many historic football matches have been staged in the Rose Bowl including the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA™ Final, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 1999™ Final, and many key Concacaf Gold Cup matches. These events have helped further grow the game and today there are 130,000 registered players, 10,300 teams, and 240 leagues and clubs across Southern California.

Los Angeles is the only city in the US with seven teams in the five major American sports leagues and two teams in the MLS – Los Angeles Galaxy and Los Angeles FC. The area is home to the Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB), the Los Angeles Clippers (NBA), the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA), the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), the Los Angeles Chargers (NFL) and the Los Angeles Rams (NFL). In the most recent calendar year, more than 27 million tickets were purchased for sports events in the area.