'No event quite like an Olympic Games': OKC mayor, Chamber share lessons learned from Paris

Plans to bring 2028 Olympic events to Oklahoma City first grew out of a conversation OKC Mayor David Holt had over dinner with former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti six years ago.

Now that the idea is closer than ever to being a reality, Holt felt like he needed to get an up-close look at what the Games could be like.

"Paris, for us, was our last chance to see the real thing, and there really is no substitute for seeing and experiencing it," Holt told The Oklahoman. "It just wouldn’t have been the same. We needed at least a few of the leaders from our community in different spheres to have gone there and actually witnessed it. And we brought a lot of different perspectives with us in the 10 or so people from Oklahoma City who made the trip."

A cohort of city employees and community leaders traveled to France in late July and early August to observe the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. Along with Holt, the delegation also included Oklahoma City Special Projects Manager Sue Hollenbeck, Emergency Management Director Audrea George with the Oklahoma City Police Department, Riversport Executive Director Mike Knopp, and several members of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.

The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber paid for travel and lodging expenses for the delegation except Holt, who used campaign funds, as allowed for office holder expenses.

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Apart from experiencing the Games, Holt's visit included discussions with Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, and Thomas Konietzko, president of the International Canoe Federation, as well as building further rapport with LA city officials and LA28 organizers.

"It’s a funny thing to say, but I really am such a part of the canoe slalom world now," Holt said. "It was really interesting to immerse in that even more so than I ever had before. And we’ve had some great events here in the city , but this was really my opportunity to go deep. I could talk to you about canoe slalom as a sport just the same way I could about the Thunder’s playoff chances this year."

Other members of the delegation were limited in what they could say about the trip due to concerns related to awaiting final approval by the Los Angeles City Council over Oklahoma City getting to host the softball and canoeing events.

Olympic softball, canoe slalom events in OKC for 2028 not a done deal yet

Despite reports declaring the Olympics are coming to Oklahoma City, the deal is far from done. The Los Angeles City Council could take weeks, or months, to give final approval to the Olympic venues chosen by LA28.

"Even though we’re still awaiting this consideration from the LA City Council, there’s not another Summer Olympics between now and 2028, so we had to go when we could," Holt said. "But beyond that, until we get that approval, we’re in a little bit of a holding pattern. We’re doing what we can to prepare, but there’s only so much you can do until everything’s official."

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But the Paris trip shed light on what Oklahoma City might need to do to get ready over the next four years. Christy Gillenwater, president and CEO of the chamber, said the group gained a sense of every aspect of the Olympic event: from seating, staging and security, to fan interaction, visitor transportation and athlete amenities.

"There is no event quite like an Olympic Games," Gillenwater said. "There are so many people that participate – beyond ticket holders and athletes. The environment was electric. Volunteers are a crucial element of success, and Paris implemented some very high-tech solutions for managing spectator flow and reducing frustration. The media presence from around the world was extensive. Executing at a high level requires scenario planning and logistics expertise that will be vital for our team."

Tourism numbers unlike anything ever seen before in OKC

Gillenwater and Holt both said the level of tourism brought by the Olympics and the logistics needed to accommodate it would be unprecedented for Oklahoma City.

"We know that we’re talking about roughly 200,000 tickets to be sold to our events that are proposed to be held in OKC," Holt said. "And then there’s sort of an unknown number of people who may come just to experience it, and that depends a little bit on the additional experiences that we create. But we certainly are interested in looking at that type of thing, like having a festival or something so that people can still feel they’ve been a part of the Los Angeles Olympics without necessarily having a ticket to the event."

Gillenwater said that hotels in Paris were engaged with the Games in various ways, from blocks of guest rooms reserved for groups of travelers to full-on marketing takeovers of existing properties.

"We are still compiling notes and details that will be useful to our planning," she said. "There were delegations from future hosts, as well as cities considering future Olympic bids. There are many ways to activate around the games and we look forward to making this an amazing experience for athletes, attendees, and our residents."

Due to heightened security measures that would need to be taken at the softball park and the whitewater rafting facility, Holt said that expectations for heavy foot traffic over long distances would need to be taken into account. He speculated that current walkability from the Bricktown area to Riversport could be an advertised option, and that the city's EMBARK staff would likely need to develop a plan for existing public transportation routes that could service the high number of tourists visiting the city without vehicles.

Analysis on the possible financial impact of the Games on Oklahoma City has been only surface-level at this early planning stage, Holt said, but he added that city officials "feel comfortable" that obligations can be met "without needing some extraordinary new efforts."

The mayor said the hardest part has already been accomplished — the construction of the venues. The city's softball stadium first opened in 1987 , but was most recently expanded with nearly $30 million in improvements through the local Better Streets, Safer City initiative passed in 2017. The city's Riversport whitewater rafting facility was completed in 2016 under the MAPS 3 banner .

Previous host cities over the past 20 years reported spending billions on new construction only to see little or no economic benefit. Venues built for Olympic events were sometimes abandoned once the games ended.

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An article in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs detailed a series of reforms by the International Olympic Committee that are credited with successfully combating much of the wasteful construction that left ruins in former host cities going back to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Ruins can even be found left from the 1936 games in Berlin.

Sven D. Wolfe, an urban policy researcher, wrote the Olympics this summer in Paris was successful in establishing a high usage of existing venues estimated at between 85% and 95%.

The Los Angeles organizing committee’s sustainability effort, which includes not building new venues, led to the decision to host softball and canoe slalom in Oklahoma City. When LA28 chair Casey Wasserman revealed Olympic venues earlier this summer, he said Oklahoma City’s Devon Park softball stadium and Riversport Rapids are "second to none" with no comparable venues in California.

"To replicate what we have now with the softball stadium and Riversport would cost hundreds of millions, and we’ve already done it — and we did it a lot cheaper than that, because we did it a long time ago," Holt said. "So, that’s the good news, and I think people should be pleased to hear that, and certainly that’s why this makes so much sense to LA28."

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But until the LA City Council formally approves the 2028 plans, Oklahoma City will have to hold off on moving forward with anything else. A staff analysis from LA officials needs to be delivered to the Olympic committee, who will then deliver recommendations to the council for approval, and Holt hasn't been given a specific timetable on how long that will take.

"It’s important to remember that we’re just one piece of a much larger proposal, and we move along with all of it, so it’s not always us that’s being analyzed," Holt said. "But I know they’re working as expeditiously as they can, and I obviously have nothing but respect for their process. As a member of a Council myself, I can say no different. They deserve their opportunity and all of the time that they need to do their analysis."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 'No event quite like an Olympic Games': OKC mayor, Chamber share lessons learned from Paris