The Rose Bowl Stadium is set to host the gold-medal matches for men\u2019s and women\u2019s soccer for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, officials revealed Tuesday morning during the International Olympic Committee meeting in Milan. <\/p>\n
The men\u2019s soccer final will be played at the Rose Bowl on July 28, while the women will face off the next day on July 29. The stadium can accommodate approximately 90,000 soccer fans visiting Los Angeles in 2028. <\/p>\n
In order to make it to the finals at the Rose Bowl, Olympic soccer teams will first have to contend across several U.S. cities. Venues for the previous rounds include New York, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, San Jose and San Diego. <\/p>\n
LA28 Chief Executive Reynold Hoover championed in the Tuesday announcement that the host cities \u201cwill help bring these Olympics to the world,\u201d extending \u201cOlympic spirit coast to coast.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s an amazing opportunity for Pasadena. It\u2019s a city that\u2019s used to being on the biggest stage in the biggest moments,\u201d said USC Professor Jeff Fellenzer, who teaches sports media classes at the Annenberg School for Communication. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Rose Bowl stadium has hosted World Cups, Super Bowls,\u201d Fellenzer added. He finds the management team at the stadium is \u201cvery nimble\u201d and \u201cvery able to handle the enormity of these mega events.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Pasadena resident and USC sophomore majoring in law, history, and culture, Hailey Wilson, hosting the games in the area goes beyond the competition. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s especially important for me after the wildfires,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
The games will take place three years after the Eaton fire burned 10,000 acres in Pasadena in January 2025. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be our first huge event where the community is able to come together and see our teams play, and be able to support a place that is healing,\u201d said Wilson.<\/p>\n
However, other L.A. natives do not echo the same hopeful sentiment. Jonny Coleman is an organizer with grassroots coalition NOlympics, which advocates against the potential negative consequences the Olympics could have on L.A. He pointed to the time and money city officials have put into the games. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat could be spent rebuilding Pasadena in a more, you know, sustainable, intentional way,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Coleman pointed to the impact that \u201cOlympic spirit\u201d could have on local communities through those venues. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Olympics, what they do in every city around the world, not just LA, is they try to remove visible poverty,\u201d he said. He said street vendors, homeless people and sex workers are all part of the \u201cinformal economies\u201d that \u201cwill become more and more undesirable for city officials.\u201d<\/p>\n