Oklahoma City named host for LA28 canoe slalom and softball; city plans logistics for hundreds of thousands of visitors

Officials said Oklahoma City landed two LA28 competition venues — canoe slalom and softball — because the city already hosts world-class facilities, and they described operational steps to prepare for large visitor volumes.

Sue Hollandbeck of the city manager’s office said LA28’s sustainability approach and a shortage of permanent venues in Southern California led organizers to identify existing facilities elsewhere. “Oklahoma City came forward and said, ‘Hey, we have a venue,’” Hollandbeck said, noting Riverport OKC (whitewater) and Devon Park (softball) fit LA28 needs because of prior MAPS and bond investments.

Hollandbeck recalled the city’s decades-long softball history dating to ASA/USA Softball’s move to Oklahoma City and subsequent facility investments, including a 2017 bond that added an upper deck and increased permanent capacity to about 9,000 with room for roughly 4,000 temporary seats for the Women’s College World Series. David Todd described Riverport OKC as one of three U.S. whitewater facilities independent of an active river and suitable for international competition.

Hollandbeck provided a rough attendance framing: LA expects about 15 million visitors across 51 venues; simple proportional math implies nearly 600,000 visitors could attend events in Oklahoma City across the two venues during the games. She urged local businesses to prepare operationally — adjusting hours, staffing and deliveries — to capture visitor spending and handle logistics.

Ticketing for locals is through the LA28 portal (l28.org), with a registration-based lottery that gives priority to local zip codes; winners are offered tickets for purchase and general sale follows. City leaders said planning is ongoing and that communications and coordination (team OKC, Visit OKC, chamber, hospitality groups) will roll out to help businesses and residents prepare.