With the 2028 Olympic Games now less than two years away, Los Angeles organizers have crossed one of their most significant commercial milestones yet: more than six million Olympic tickets have already been sold.
LA28 announced the figure following the completion of its second major ticket release and Visa presale in August, reporting that the vast majority of the inventory made available through the first two sales phases had been purchased. The result provides an early indication of the scale of interest surrounding an Olympic Games that will return to Los Angeles for the first time in 44 years.
For Casey Wasserman, chairperson and president of LA28, the ticket milestone also represents another step in a project that has been years in the making. Wasserman played a central role in Los Angeles’ successful Olympic bid and has remained one of the most visible figures in the organization as it has shifted from securing the Games to preparing to stage them.
“The demand we’ve seen across both drops is a powerful signal that the world is energized for LA28,” Wasserman said when announcing the latest ticket figures. “We’re grateful to every fan who participated, and we’re just getting started.”
From Early Interest to Six Million Sales
Signs of unusually strong ticket demand emerged well before the six-million mark was reached.
When LA28 opened registration for its ticket draw in January, organizers reported more than 1.5 million registrations within the first 24 hours. By late July, that number had climbed to 12 million registrations from fans in more than 200 countries and all 50 states.
The first major ticket release subsequently placed more than four million tickets with fans, according to LA28. Nearly three-quarters of those tickets went to residents of the Los Angeles and Oklahoma City areas, which will both host Olympic events.
By the conclusion of the second ticket release in August, total sales had moved past six million.
The milestone means organizers have already sold more than half of the roughly 10.5 million Olympic tickets expected to be available for the Games. It also gives LA28 a substantial base of committed spectators well ahead of the Opening Ceremony in July 2028.
That matters for Wasserman and the organizing committee for reasons extending beyond attendance. LA28 is operating as an independently funded nonprofit organization, with ticketing, sponsorships and hospitality among the principal sources of revenue supporting the multibillion-dollar undertaking.
A Long Runway for LA28
Los Angeles was formally awarded the 2028 Olympics in 2017, giving Wasserman and the organizing committee an unusually long period to prepare.
The arrangement resulted from the International Olympic Committee’s decision to award the 2024 and 2028 Summer Games simultaneously, with Paris receiving 2024 and Los Angeles taking 2028.
That extended runway has allowed LA28 to build commercial partnerships and develop its ticketing strategy years before the Games arrive.
Wasserman’s involvement stretches back to the bid itself. He led the effort that ultimately secured the Olympics for Los Angeles and continued as chairman of the organizing committee after the host-city agreement was finalized. As the Games have moved closer, his role has increasingly centered on the broader strategy surrounding LA28 while the organization’s expanding executive and operational teams handle the enormous logistical demands of staging the event.
Ticketing is one of the clearest areas in which those years of preparation are beginning to produce measurable results.
Demand Across an Expanded Olympic Program
LA28 will offer spectators a particularly large Olympic program.
The 2028 Games are scheduled to feature a record 353 medal events, compared with 329 at Paris 2024. The program will include the Olympic debuts of flag football and squash, while baseball and softball, cricket and lacrosse will return to the Games.
Several of those sports have already demonstrated significant ticket demand.
During the second sales phase, all available tickets for softball, lacrosse, flag football and squash were purchased, according to LA28. Available tickets for softball and canoe slalom events in Oklahoma City also sold through during the first two ticket releases.
Organizers have emphasized that a sport appearing sold out now does not necessarily mean spectators have lost their opportunity to attend. Additional inventory is expected to become available as venue configurations and seating plans are finalized.
That process reflects one of the complications of selling millions of tickets nearly two years before competition begins. Temporary venues and arenas configured specifically for Olympic competition can have different seating capacities and sightlines than they do during normal events.
LA28 has consequently held some inventory back until those configurations become clearer.
Ticketing Changes Coming in 2027
The next phase will also bring a significant change in how spectators purchase Olympic tickets.
There will be no additional general-public Olympic ticket draws in 2026. Instead, LA28 plans to move to first-come, first-served sales in 2027.
Under the initial system, fans registered for a draw and selected participants received designated opportunities to purchase tickets. The next phase will eliminate the draw requirement.
Purchase limits will also be removed. During the earlier releases, buyers faced cumulative limits on the number of Olympic event tickets they could purchase. In 2027, fans will be able to purchase tickets regardless of whether they participated in the earlier releases and without an overall ticket maximum.
An LA28 ID will still be required to make purchases.
Wasserman characterized the transition as an opportunity to broaden access as additional inventory becomes available, saying 2027 will bring “more inventory, more access and more ways to be part” of the Games.
LA28 has not yet announced the date when first-come, first-served Olympic ticket sales will begin.
Paralympic Sales and Resale Program Also Ahead
Ticketing activity will expand beyond the Olympics in 2027.
Los Angeles will host the Paralympic Games for the first time in its history, and the first Paralympic ticket release is scheduled for next year. The city previously hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984, but neither edition included the Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
LA28 also plans to introduce its official verified resale program in 2027. Organizers have warned buyers that tickets sold outside the organization’s authorized resale network cannot be verified.
The resale program will become increasingly important as millions of tickets change hands and spectators’ plans evolve between now and 2028.
A Tangible Sign of the Games Taking Shape
For much of the period since Los Angeles secured the Olympics, LA28 has largely been a planning operation focused on matters such as venues, sponsorships, transportation, sports programming and financing.
Selling more than six million tickets represents something different: millions of individual commitments from spectators planning to attend events nearly two years in advance.
For Wasserman, who has been involved with the Los Angeles Olympic effort since its bid stage, the milestone arrives as the organization moves deeper into the execution phase.
There is still considerable work ahead. Millions of additional Olympic tickets remain to be sold, Paralympic ticketing has yet to begin, and venue configurations and operational plans continue to develop.
But with more than six million tickets already purchased and millions more expected to become available in 2027, LA28’s audience is taking shape well before athletes arrive in Los Angeles.
The Games that Wasserman and other organizers spent years pitching, negotiating and planning are increasingly becoming a ticketed event with millions of spectators already committed to being there.
