Throwback Thursday: Is Los Angeles Mayor’s Photo Of 1984 Olympic Games An Endorsement For 2024?

Los Angeles — Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Facebook page paid tribute today to the Olympic Games (which the city hosted in 1984) and Special Olympics World Games (which are being held in the city this week) using the hashtag Throwback Thursday. The post follows comments from Garcetti that he supports his city’s 2024 Olympic bid, but silence on the issue of whether or not he’ll put taxpayers on the hook for potential cost overruns (reported by the Los Angeles Times ). Riding support for the Special Olympics, Garcetti’s Facebook post evoked the glory of the good ‘ole days. In the post, a photo shows thousands of spectators watch the opening ceremonies of 1984 Olympics as balloons soar into the sky.

“‪#‎ThrowBackThursday‬ to the 1984 Olympics. We've been having a great time reaching up all week with the Special Olympics! ‪#‎ReachUpLA‬ ‪#‎TBT‬ Special Olympics World Games Los Angeles 2015,” the post said.

As it stands now, the U.S. Olympic Committee doesn’t have an American host city bidder to present to the International Olympic Committee. Boston was initially selected, but was dropped when Mayor Marty Walsh told the USOC that he could not “commit to putting the taxpayers at risk.” Under current IOC expectations, cities must take on the financial risk of cost overruns. The USOC has until mid September to select a candidate to present to the IOC and have its proposal weighed against rival bidders: Paris, Rome, Hamburg and Budapest.

As we wrote earlier this week, there at least 12 reasons why Boston shouldn’t host the 2024 Olympics . Some of those reasons don’t apply to Los Angeles, or are less significant. For example, La La Land has more space and an existing core of an Olympic Village, so it might not displace as many residents through eviction and gentrification. Also, support for the games is much higher. Most importantly, the city believes it could profit from the event not just culturally, but financially. Los Angeles actually made money off of the 1984 Olympic Games.

Jeff Millman, a senior aide to Garcetti told the Times in a statement that profitability wouldn’t be a problem.

"If we bid, our city's existing world-class venues would make an Olympics in Los Angeles profitable just as it was in 1984 and 1932," he said on Tuesday.

The 1984 Olympics brought in a $450 million surplus for Southern California (there is some debate over the exact figure). Critics argue that those profits were only possible because of favorable contract that required less risk and less taxpayer money than the agreement required for 2024, the one that Boston rejected. In this decade, no summer Olympics host city has profited financially from the games and most have taken billions in losses. Los Angeles wants a 1980s throwback, but it might have to come with a modern price tag.