Economist Reacts To Olympic Events Coming To Oklahoma City

 As the world prepares for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, Oklahomans are anticipating their own Olympic future in 2028.

Officials announced in June that Oklahoma City would host the Canoe Slalom and Softball events during LA28. Economist Steve Agee said basic economic principles have made the practice of spreading events to other cities more widely accepted.

"This issue of sustainability is critical," Agee said. "That's the main reason they made the decision to have the softball and river activities here in Oklahoma City because we already have that infrastructure in place. And we're going to maintain it because we use it."

Mayor David Holt highlighted the Olympic plans in his State of the City address this week, including the detail that 200,000 tickets are expected to be available across all the events.

"As people come in here, that does generate revenue," Agee said. "They'll have hotel and restaurant revenue. They'll buy gasoline, products and services."

Riversport and Devon Park will likely receive funding for improvements to ensure the facilities are ready between now and 2028. Last week, the Oklahoma City Council approved more than $3 million in a transfer from MAPS 3, previously earmarked for the convention center, to Riversport. 

"I think the Olympic Committee very wisely decided, from an economic standpoint, to kind of split these venues up and let's take advantage of the wonderful infrastructure we already have in place," Agee added.