Plans from LA 2024 to "shift the Olympics Opening or Closing ceremonies from the Coliseum to a new stadium in Inglewood would face intense scrutiny" from the L.A. City Council, according to sources cited by Scott Reid of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. While LA 2024 has listed the L.A. Memorial Coliseum as the site for both '24 ceremonies in public documents, there is a "strong belief" among key members of the IOC and Olympic movement that bid committee officials are "leaning toward" the Rams' new Inglewood option for the ceremonies. LA 2024 Chair Casey Wasserman and Inglewood Mayor James Butts also have said that the Inglewood stadium would "play a high-profile role" in a L.A. Olympics. Reid noted LA 2024 will "formally announce its plans for the Inglewood site in the coming weeks." Asked if potential resistance among council members to using the Inglewood stadium for the ceremonies gave pause to LA 2024 officials about their plans, LA 2024 CEO Gene Sykes said, "We don’t have potential plans in place until we’re ready to reveal them. We haven’t said anything about that." Meanwhile, the Coliseum, as "host of the track and field competition, would remain the centerpiece" of the '24 Games and be the "most lucrative venue." In any "discussions of venue change, the council has some leverage." Its approval is "needed for the city to sign the host-city contract with the IOC" should L.A. be awarded the '24 Games next September. Venue change is a "major point of ongoing negotiations between LA 2024 and city officials on a memorandum of understanding between the city and bid committee, which will give the City Council a voice and oversight in the planning" of the '24 Games (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 12/10).
