The IOC is "progressing toward an agreement" that sees Paris host the '24 Games and L.A. host the '28 Games, according to sources cited by Matthew Futterman of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Details still need to be ironed out, but sources said that officials from both bid groups "are conceptually lining up behind the plan." The sources added that finalizing the deal is contingent on L.A. and the USOC "securing enough incentives that waiting an additional four years for the Games remains financially viable and beneficial to the city." Futterman reports that would allow L.A. officials "to claim victory after they have said for months that their primary aim" was getting the '24 Games. Sources said that momentum for the dual-hosting model picked up after IOC President Thomas Bach "held separate private conversations" with L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and USOC Chair Larry Probst. Bach made it clear it was "extremely important to him" that L.A. allow for the deal to move forward while he also "committed the IOC to making sure the four-year wait could be made worthwhile" for both the USOC and L.A. Paris officials claim that focusing on '24 "has become something of a necessity because key elements of the bid may not be available four years later." Futterman reports IOC execs agree that Paris "should go first because the financial underpinnings of its bid are more tenuous." L.A.'s bid relies "almost entirely on existing facilities," which would "work just as easily in 11 years as it would in seven." Additionally, the L.A. bid "does not rely on any public funding" and all the venues "either already exist or are under construction" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/31).
