There are going to be Disney and Universal connections to the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics, with Disney having at least one former executive leading the festivities and outgoing CEO Bob Iger rumored to chair the LA28 Olympic Organizing Committee. This covers the latest news on that front, potential park implications, and more.
First is the official news that Comcast has announced that Universal is the official theme park partner of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It’s unsurprising that LA28 will have ties to Universal Studios, given that the Olympics air on NBC and Comcast is the parent company of NBC and Universal (aka NBCUniversal).
Prior to the specific announcement of Universal Destinations & Experiences being the official theme park partner of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Comcast agreed on a new groundbreaking partnership last year. It took the longstanding partnership between the IOC and Comcast NBCUniversal to a new level, from media rights-holder to strategic partner.
The agreement includes not only the media rights on all platforms in the United States of America for the Olympic Games through to 2036, but also new, innovative joint strategic initiatives and projects. This is a partnership for the digital era, taking advantage of opportunities offered by the rapidly developing media landscape and the unique positioning of the global media and technology company.
The extension of the media rights for the 2033-2036 cycle, covering the Olympic Winter Games Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 and the Olympic Games 2036 cost Comcast $3 billion and is a major contribution to the long-term financial stability of the entire Olympic Movement.
For reference, the IOC awarded NBCUniversal the U.S. media rights for the Olympic Games for 2021 through to 2032 for $7.65 billion back in 2014. So paying almost half of that for one-third of the Olympic Games reflects a considerable increase. Then again, sports rights costs have absolutely exploded in the last decade, so “only” $3 billion for the Olympics doesn’t seem altogether unreasonable, especially if there’s a meaningful difference to media rights-holder vs. strategic partner.
At the time, then-IOC President Thomas Bach said:
“This agreement with Comcast is groundbreaking because it goes far beyond the traditional media rights agreement which we have had for many years with our valued partner.
Thanks to their innovative approach, serving on all platforms from linear to streaming and digital, we can now take our partnership to new heights for the benefit of athletes, Olympic stakeholders, Organising Committees and fans. The media landscape is evolving rapidly and, by partnering with one of the world’s leading media and technology companies, we will ensure that fans in the United States are able to experience the Olympic Games like never before.”
Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said:
“There is no event like the Olympics. Its power to bring joy, and the unifying spirit it embodies, are truly unique. We live in a time when technology is driving faster and more fundamental transformation than we’ve seen in decades.
This groundbreaking, new, long-term partnership between Comcast NBCUniversal and the International Olympic Committee not only recognises this dynamic but anticipates that it will accelerate. It is our honour to continue to bring the full power of our company’s expertise in creating and distributing content that connects with Americans, as well as to begin to provide even more innovative technological support and solutions to the IOC and its stakeholders in areas that benefit athletes and the many people dedicated to organising the Olympic Games around the world.”
Final numbers aren’t in yet for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Through last Thursday, Milano Cortina 2026 had averaged 24.1 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, NBCUniversal Digital Platforms and Versant’s CNBC and USA Network. That made it the most-watched Winter Games at this point since 2014, and up 93% from Beijing 2022.
NBCUniversal has a deep and critically acclaimed history with the Olympic Games. Beginning with Tokyo 1964, NBC has presented 20 total Olympic Games and 14 consecutive editions, more than any other US media company.
At the conclusion of the Summer Games in 2036, NBCUniversal will have presented 25 Olympic Games and 19 consecutive editions. Comcast is also a major sponsor of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements in the US, having served as an Official Partner of Team USA since 2017.
Prepare for memories so powerful, they’ll stay with you forever.
Universal Destinations & Experiences is the official theme park partner of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games. pic.twitter.com/ocTHjLVaou
— Universal Orlando Resort (@UniversalORL) February 22, 2026
As for how Universal’s theme parks will partner for the LA28 Olympics, one of the biggest ways is that Universal Studios Hollywood will host squash!
Squash will take place at the iconic Courthouse Square at Universal Studios Hollywood at the LA 2028 Olympic Games. As part of the backlot on the Universal Studios Hollywood Lot in San Fernando Valley, Courthouse Square has been featured in films like Back to The Future, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Nutty Professor, and Bruce Almighty.
Important matches at squash tournaments usually take place on a court with four glass walls, meaning the surrounding landscape is a key feature of the experience. This is going to result in some fun visuals on the backlot during broadcasts, and potentially for guests of the Backlot Tour at USH!
Squash is one of five new sports set to feature at the Games, and the host nation has a very good chance of medalling. Many of the world’s top players have progressed from the United States world-class collegiate squash system.
Disney CEO Bob Iger Rumored as Replacement for LA28 Chair
In an interesting twist, outgoing Disney CEO Bob Iger has been rumored as a candidate to replace Casey Wasserman as the chairperson of the LA28 Olympic Organizing Committee sources familiar with the internal process told CNN.
As of right now, the chair position is not open, but it will be. Pressure is mounting publicly and privately for entertainment mogul Casey Wasserman to step down as chair of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics following a series of, ahem, embarrassing emails with a very bad dude (mild understatement).
Dozens of elected officials in California, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and a 37-member legislative delegation, have called for Wasserman to step down. I can’t think of a single politician who has come out in support of Wasserman–and there won’t be, given the nature of the scandal. It’s political poison.
The Olympic chair is the face of the Games, and sources familiar with LA28 told CNN that they’re concerned that Wasserman won’t be able to do interviews, raise money or conduct other public-facing duties without controversy or distraction. Although he cannot he fired, he can be sidelined or pressured into leaving. His exit seems an inevitability, so it’s a matter of who will replace him.
Enter outgoing Disney CEO Bob Iger, who will suddenly have a lot more free time as of March 18, 2026.
Iger being a front-runner to LA28 Olympic Organizing Committee makes a ton of sense. He previously helped Los Angeles land the Summer Olympics, after joining the bid committee’s board of directors for the 2024 campaign, which was eventually awarded to Paris with 2028 going to LA.
Even prior to that, Iger has previous Olympic ties, having worked with the late TV producer Roone Arledge on Games broadcasts from 1976 to 1988. Between Iger’s history with the Olympics and experience at the Walt Disney Company in managing complex events, he’s a highly logical fit.
Iger also has other ties to Los Angeles sports, working as a non-executive chairman overseeing a proposed football stadium project in Carson, California, which would house the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders. That eventually morphed into SoFi Stadium, which is home to the Chargers and Rams. I would personally like to see Iger, or literally anyone with a pulse, buy the Angels.
Disney fan sentiment on Bob Iger has soured over the last couple of years, so we suspect the reaction will likewise be negative towards Iger becoming chair of the LA28 Olympic Organizing Committee. While we wholeheartedly agree that Iger has overstayed as Disney CEO and it’s been time for fresh blood for a while, we disagree with the notion that he’d make a bad Olympics chair.
What Iger needs is a reset. To do something different. Chairing the LA28 Olympic Organizing Committee would offer that, and if he does well, he could use it as a stepping stone into city or state politics. (Probably not national at this point.)
Iger’s involvement would be an obvious win for Disney fans wanting to see the company integrated into the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics, but it would also be a win for all of Hollywood.
He would also be a safe, high-profile pick for the Olympics. Bob Iger is one of America’s most recognizable executives, which would be great for interviews and fundraising. He also wouldn’t bring baggage, controversy or corruption to the role, and his emails are seemingly clean. All wins for LA28.
Iger’s industry connections would serve LA28 well, especially after the exquisitely-produced and staged Games in Paris and Milano Cortina. Given those visuals alone, California is going to need to up its game–which is precisely why we’re getting venues like Courthouse Square at Universal Studios Hollywood.
There’s already a Disney connection to LA28, which last year named global television and film executive Peter Rice the Head of Ceremonies and Content for the LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games. Rice was previously Chairman of Television & General Entertainment for The Walt Disney Company, reporting to Bob Iger. As the lead executive producer for the Opening & Closing Ceremonies for the 2028 Games, Rice will shape how LA28 welcomes and bids farewell to the world on the greatest stage in sports.
Rice actually is not the first major Hollywood executive to lead Olympic ceremonies. The modern Olympics pageantry that we enjoy today was born at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Games, held at a remote ski resort in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Northern California.
The chairman of the Pageantry Committee was none other than Walt Disney, who was responsible for producing both the opening and closing ceremonies at Blyth Memorial Arena. By all accounts, Walt overdelivered, using his company and connections to put on quite the show. (Read more: “Walt Disney and the Winter Olympics.” Above and below photos via the Walt Disney Family Museum.)
How Disney and especially Universal celebrates the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics remains to be seen. It stands to reason that Universal Studios Hollywood will do more than Orlando given the proximity to LA (and the fact that it’s hosting an event).
As a huge fan of the Olympics, I really hope NBC really leverages Universal Studios Hollywood for the Summer Games. It’s the perfect opportunity for synergy, and having a broadcast center at USH could be a lot of fun with the distinctly America mix of theme parks, Hollywood hoopla, and sports–all set against a distinctly Californian backdrop. Have Snoop and Mike Tirico ride Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift on air.
How Disneyland is integrated into the LA28 Olympics, if at all, is more of an open question. On the one hand, there’s the potential reticence by both NBC and Disney to “partner” with the competition. On the other hand, the Olympics are all about unity, and it’ll be difficult for NBC to just pretend Disneyland, a Southern California institution, just doesn’t exist for ~2 weeks while it highlights the region.
It would be quite the conspicuous omission, so it makes sense for the two to come to some sort of an agreement. That’s probably easier with Rice already involved, and doubly so if Iger becomes chair of the LA28 Olympic Organizing Committee.
It’s also worth pointing out that the synergistic broadcasting of the Olympics isn’t the same as the festivities themselves. I would be somewhat shocked if Mickey Mouse doesn’t make an appearance during the opening ceremony. Same goes for countless other people and mascots belonging to Comcast rivals.
On the synergistic side, there’s no reason Universal Orlando can’t get in on the action, too. Have a special event for the Olympics, let guests get excited for the Summer Games, and really lean into the synergy. This is something that NBCUniversal doesn’t do particularly well.
I actively watched a lot of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games and had Peacock on in the background while working every single waking hour. I can’t recall ever seeing a commercial for Epic Universe or Universal Studios Hollywood. Not once. Unless you’re pretty deep into this stuff, you could easily have no clue that Comcast is the parent company of both NBC and Universal.
That’s wild to me, especially as we just saw Disneyland literally play host to ESPN broadcasts hyping up the Super Bowl–and not this year’s Super Bowl, the one that was (at the time) still 364 days away. Perhaps Disney is a bit heavy-handed with the synergy plays at times, but NBCUniversal is the opposite of that, especially when it comes to the Universal theme parks.
I hope they remedy this ahead of LA28, especially since the Olympics are one of the strongest and best “brands” associated with NBCUniversal. Whereas this website can offer plenty of critique about Epic Universe and Universal Orlando as a whole, NBC’s handling of the Olympics is pretty much a “no notes” kind of deal. Sure, some of it is a bit overproduced as compared to the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) streams, but that’s purely a matter of knowing their audience. Hard to fault.
Honestly, part of the reason why I don’t want to see Disney acquire the rights to the Olympics, despite knowing they’d do a much better job with theme park integration, is because NBC does such a superlative job with the broadcasts.
This should’ve been obvious to anyone watching over the last week, but especially the final day with the men’s hockey gold medal game, Mike Tirico’s sign-off and the closing ceremony. Suffice to say, I really hope that Peacock still exists in 2028, and that NBCUniversal goes above and beyond to incorporate the Universal side of that name into the partnership.
We’re going to have more coverage of visiting Southern California during the LA28 Olympics. It’s something about which I’m really passionate, so I’ll find any excuse I can to post about it (this post being Exhibit A). I’d also be remiss if I didn’t encourage you to register for the LA28 ticket draw–you have until March 18, 2026 for the first draw. This is doubly true if you live in one of the relevant zip codes for LA28, as there’s an exclusive presale for locals.
Hopefully Disneyland will end up doing something for the LA28 Summer Olympics, too. The park did quite a lot for the 1984 Summer Olympics, but that was a different era. One optimistic sign is that they did create the role of Major Events Integration President for Ken Potrock last year.
In that position, Potrock is responsible for developing comprehensive, cross-company plans to maximize the value of large-scale sports, entertainment and tourism events ranging from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to the 250th Anniversary of the nation. It would be awesome to see Disney involved in Olympics hosted in California again after so many decades away from the Games!
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and many other SoCal cities!
Your Thoughts
Are you excited for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics? Hope that Universal and Disney involve their theme parks? Think they actually will? Thoughts on Bob Iger becoming chair of the LA28 Organizing Committee? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!