LA28’s Casey Wasserman Is Making a Mad Dash for the Finish Line

Ask Casey Wasserman how long until the Opening Ceremony for the Olympic Games in L.A., and he’ll rattle off the number of days with the accuracy of Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man (1,525 from the time of this interview). In track and field terms, hundredths of seconds can separate a world record from a non-medal finish, so what seems like a leisurely four-year jog is, in reality, a sprint for the dynamic chairman of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Committee.

It all started with a pact between the founder and CEO of Wasserman, a global sports marketing and talent management agency, and former Mayor Eric Garcetti. “I originally thought [an Olympic] bid was a bad idea, but when Eric dragged me into this, we agreed we were going to do this our way — take it or leave it,” Wasserman says. “Our goal is to create an Olympic experience that resonates with every Angeleno, highlighting the city’s creativity, diversity and innovation. We made no grand promises to the [International Olympic Committee], and the spectacle created will be what L.A. does best all on its own.”

Indeed, L.A. — which joins London and Paris as the only cities to host the Summer Games three times — can capitalize on its (comparatively) short presence by using ready infrastructure, including the 100-year-old Coliseum, which hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984. Says Wasserman: “One of the greatest aspects of Los Angeles is its history of varied period architecture … and the Coliseum is the monument to the city’s enduring spirit and also shines on our commitment to sustainability in 2028.”

The Olympics are fetish worthy for even an amateur statistician. Any interesting L.A.-centric stats you’ve collected along the way that wowed you?

Casey Wasserman: Here’s one that’s mind-blowing: I may botch the numbers but the result is right— If you combined just USC (327) and UCLA (286) medals, Los Angeles would be ranked a Top 5 country of all time. But if you include the state (four out of the top five schools are California — Stanford, Cal and Texas round out the list), that makes California the No. 3 all-time medal winner. It's crazy!

In the name of sustainability, LA28 is reusing many facilities that already exist.

I think it’s very cool that the L.A. Coliseum is the only venue in history to be used in three games and two centuries — 1932, 1984 and 2028.  We have I think five venues scheduled that were used in 1932. So we have almost 100 years of medal in this city. It’s really so wild to me.

Wasn’t legendary golf venue Riviera Country Club used for all three L.A. games?

Golf appeared in the 1900 and 1904 games then dropped until 2016. So Riviera hosted the dressage equestrian and the riding part of the pentathlon in ’32, wasn’t used at all in ’84, and will finally host golf in 2028! It’s bizarre and amazing.

What are you proudest of in your LA28 experience thus far?

With the new sports added (cricket and flag football in particular, as superstar pro batsmen and NFL players are eligible, respectively) there’s no question these games will be the greatest collection of athletes ever assembled. NFL players playing olympic flag football? Tom Brady said if there ever were a reason to come out of retirement, that would be it. Cricket is the second biggest sport in the world! Just think about the caliber of athletes added from two of the biggest sports on the planet— this will be the greatest collection of athletes ever aggregated and assembled at any one time.

What’s the feeling you hope to the world can leave with after L.A. hosts the games?

There’s certainly the gold standard we're going to hold ourselves to as hosts. And I want the energy and exhilaration I felt as a kid in 1984 to really permeate our city in 2028 and I have no doubt that that’s how people are going to feel.

Head here to read more about L.A.’s 2024 Sports Power Players.