With LA28 on the horizon, the United States must leverage lessons from the Milan-Cortina Games by securing its infrastructure, reviving a centralized cultural and tech showcase, and protecting the collegiate pipeline that ensures successful on field performance.
By the time the Olympic flame was extinguished on February 22, Italy had much to celebrate. Viewership on NBC was up 96-percent from 2022, while the International Olympic Committee reported 113 million digital engagements. Additionally, 1.3 million tickets were sold, a remarkable resurgence of interest following the pandemic-affected Beijing Games in 2022 and a more than 18-percent improvement over the 1.1 million sold in 2018. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praised the Games as “an extraordinary international showcase” and “proof that [Italy] can organize and succeed.”
While the global reception was ultimately positive, logistical uncertainties and operational issues had threatened to derail the Games before they even began. Concerns over the construction of the main ice hockey arena and transportation delays affecting residents, visitors, and athletes seemed poised to contradict Meloni’s narrative. Fair or not, these friction points contributed to a sense from some visitors that Italy had yet to outgrow its stereotypes. While the cultural showcase around the Olympics lived up to this year’s motto of “IT’s your vibe,” it was just as common to overhear a resigned “it’s Italy” on a delayed train or in a long queue.
In the United States, anticipation mounts for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. As LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover said: "Milan is over, we're up next, and we are going to show the world that we can unite people around sport like no other place in the world." Demonstrating logistical strength early on while engaging visitors in American culture and technology are lessons organizers of LA28 can take from Milano-Cortina to strengthen US sports diplomacy. At the same time, the US now faces problems that could affect Team USA’s on field performance in the future.
While it is common for Olympic host cities to announce ambitious infrastructure and transportation projects, such as the diffuse model of Milano-Cortina or the cleaning of the Seine for Paris 2024, organizers must deliver on these goals.
In 2025, the LA28 Impact and Sustainability Report announced that the Games would be “no-build” and “transit-first.” However, with 40 competition venues dotting Los Angeles County and no central hub, concerns regarding traffic and public transportation persist. The LA County Metropolitan Transit Agency announced 28 projects to address these concerns, with about one-third of them completed as of early 2026. A recent appropriation of $94.3 million in federal transit funding will help, but the US Department of Transportation must avoid the delays that hampered the distribution of 2026 FIFA World Cup security funding. The eight World Cup matches slated for LA later this year, supported by a smaller $9.6 million transit funding package, provide a critical opportunity for LA28 organizers to evaluate progress and pivot from projects that fail to meet 2026 benchmarks.
Beyond physical infrastructure, a strong staffing operation is essential to projecting logistical strength. One of the largest staffing operations in global sport is the Olympic volunteer program. In Milano-Cortina, 18,000 volunteers representing 98 nationalities supported athlete services, access control, and in-game support operations. While this represented a nearly 30-percent increase in volunteer participation from Pyeongchang, reports of staffing inefficiencies were common and contributed to volunteer attrition.
With LA28, organizers expecting to recruit a volunteer force 50,000 to 75,000 strong. The effective deployment of volunteers can significantly shape the execution of the Games and how LA28 is perceived globally. Organizers must not only continue to attract new participants, beyond the 215,000 who had already expressed interest by the end of 2025, but also carefully craft contingency plans for staffing across a much larger number of venues than in Milan. Volunteers represent a global demographic with elevated levels of engagement in the Olympic Games. Their training and deployment will directly impact the success of events and shape the narrative that these ambassadors carry home with them.
Apart from competition venues, visitors to the Olympic Games engage with the local culture of the host city while experiencing the international atmosphere. The 2026 Milan-Cortina Opening Ceremony set the stage for an immersive cultural showcase with performances in ballet, opera, and fashion - artistic mediums in which Italy is considered to lead. When the Opening Ceremony is held across multiple stadiums in Los Angeles, producers will be expected to communicate America’s cultural leadership as effectively as they sell tickets.
Hospitality houses hosted by National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are an increasingly popular attraction at the Olympics. These suites give a public face to each nation’s sporting culture and public diplomacy priorities. In 2024, Parc de la Villette hosted 15 nation houses, including Club France and Team USA House. In total, the park drew over 1.7 million visitors. Disappointingly, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) discontinued Team USA House in Milan. While the country houses of Italy, Switzerland, South Korea, and China welcomed thousands of guests each day, the US missed an opportunity to build on the momentum of 2024.
In Los Angeles, organizers should establish an easily accessible hospitality house that connects both foreign and domestic fans to the rich tapestry of American sports culture. This space could simultaneously showcase US technology and innovation, themes that the China House and Korea House executed effectively in Milan. With the iconic Hollywood Sign as a backdrop and the influence of Silicon Valley upstate, Los Angeles is the ideal venue for such an exhibition. While Chinese tech companies and other Worldwide Olympic Partners will activate in various venues and public spaces across LA28, a centralized hub for American culture and tech can help keep attention firmly on the US.
An effective hospitality house is just one tactic for meeting US sports diplomacy goals. To create a space that truly promotes cultural diplomacy, organizers must receive support from the US government. Hospitality houses reflect the needs of their stakeholders. For Team USA, these have historically been corporate sponsors and private donors. The USOPC is one of the only NOCs that does not receive direct funding from its government. To fully capitalize on the cultural showcase of the Olympic Games and unify the nation’s overall sports diplomacy strategy, the question of federal funding for the USOPC should be revisited.
Finally, the US must continue its dominance on the field. Italy continued to prove the trend of home-field advantage at the Olympic Games by finishing third in the medal count, and the US will be expected to top the podium in 2028. Looking to the future, the US must ensure the long-term health of its US Olympic sports programs starting at the collegiate level. In Paris, 75-percent of Team USA athletes competed in college, and many currently competing in the NCAA. With the sea change of name, image, and likeness (NIL) sponsorship money flooding college sports, university resources are being increasingly allocated to a handful of lucrative sports programs.
This threatens to reduce attention and funding to sports such as gymnastics and swimming. To prevent this, the US government should pass legislation protecting a diversity of intercollegiate sports. While passing the SCORE Act would be a start, additional provisions, including minimum spending limits for top schools towards Olympic sport programs, would serve as more effective guardrails.
Sports unite cultures and drive global economies. Dive into the Wilson Center's research on the "Decade of Sport in America" (2024–2034) and see how sports diplomacy is winning on the world stage.
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