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Delta Becomes the First Official Sponsor of the 2028 Olympics
Joel Morris March 04, 2020
Delta celebrated its 95th birthday by succeeding United’s Olympic contract with a $400 million contract of its own.
The airline announced on Tuesday that it just became the first sponsor of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Delta Air Lines also became the official airline of athletes participating in the US Olympic and Paralympics. That relationship begins in 2021 when United’s contract expires–a contract which United held for 40 years. Participants will fly to the summer and winter Olympics Beijing 2022, Paris 2024, and Milan 2026 in Delta planes.
LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman spoke for the city’s organizing committee, “We embrace Delta’s passion and dedication to connect all of these dreams and Olympic and Paralympic stories in the years to come.”
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said, “Delta is in the business of connecting people, and nothing brings the world together quite like the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
The announcement was celebrated at a gala in LA’s landmark Griffith Observatory, along with a number of former and current hopeful medalists. Among those in attendance were 23-time gold medalist swimmer Michael Phelps and 6-time gold medalist sprinter Allyson Felix, who shared the event on her Instagram and is currently competing to make her fifth Olympic Games.
The Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games are scheduled to commence July 21st, 2028, running through September 3rd of that same year, and have been an important driver of the city’s efforts to update its transit network, including light rail service directly to LAX airport.
Delta was a previous USOPC sponsor when their major hub Atlanta hosted the 1996 games and in 2002 for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Thanks for the head's up, watersign. It's been updated.
"First Inaugural"? Pick one. They mean the same thing.