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CC - ACTION ITEM: (1) Discussion of City Sponsorship of the New Zealand Hospitality House and Fan Zone in Town Plaza during the 2028 Olympics; (2) (If Desired) Designation of the New Zealand Hospitality House and Fan Zone as a City-Sponsored Event and Approval of a Memorandum of Understanding and other Related Agreements with the New Zealand Olympic Committee for Exclusive Use of Town Plaza during the 2028 Olympics for such Event; and (3) Direction to the City Manager as Deemed Appropriate.
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Meeting Date: April 28, 2025
Contact Person/Dept.: Jesse Mays, Assistant City Manager
Edgar Varela, Special Events Manager
Phone Number: City Manager’s Office - (310) 253-6000
Special Events Manager - (310) 253-5752
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Attachments: Yes [X] No []
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (04/23/2025)
Department Approval: John Nachbar, City Manager (04/22/2025) _____________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council (1) discuss City sponsorship of the New Zealand Hospitality House and Fan Zone during the 2028 Olympics; (2) if desired, designate the New Zealand Hospitality House and Fan Zone as a City-sponsored event and approve a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and other related agreements with the New Zealand Olympic Committee for use of the Town Plaza during the 2028 Olympics for such event; and (3) provide other direction to the City Manager as deemed appropriate.
BACKGROUND
2028 Olympic Games
The 2028 Summer Olympics will be hosted by Los Angeles from July 14 to 30, 2028 marking the city's third time as the Olympic host, following previous Games in 1932 and 1984. This edition of the games emphasizes sustainability and innovation, adhering to a "no-build" approach by utilizing existing venues across Southern California.
Culver City is not a host city in which Olympic events will take place. The nearest venues to Culver City will be SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, and the LA Memorial Coliseum. The opening and closing ceremonies and swimming events will take place at SoFi Stadium. The LA Memorial Coliseum will host track and field events. The Olympics is prohibiting parking at event venues and will rely on spectators taking bus shuttles from remote parking lots around the region. It is yet unknown if Culver City will be asked to support one of the remote parking locations.
Cultural Olympiad
The LA28 Cultural Olympiad is a regionwide arts and culture program that will run in tandem with the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Serving as the artistic counterpart to the Games, the Cultural Olympiad will showcase the region’s diverse creative landscape through a wide array of performances, exhibitions, and educational initiatives. Cultural Affairs staff has been in conversation with regional arts leaders and the City Council 2028 Olympics Ad Hoc Subcommittee about the City’s role and participation in the Cultural Olympiad.
Olympic Hospitality House
An Olympic Hospitality House is a dedicated space established by participating countries, sponsors, or organizations during the Olympic Games to celebrate national culture, support athletes, and engage with fans and international guests. These houses serve as cultural hubs, offering a mix of entertainment, food, live event screenings, and networking opportunities.
Each house reflects its country’s unique identity, often showcasing music, cuisine, art, and traditions, while also acting as a home base for athletes, officials, and VIPs. Some hospitality houses are open to the public, while others require invitations. They play a key role in enhancing the spectator experience and fostering cultural exchange during the Olympics.
New Zealand’s Proposed Hospitality House and Fan Zone in Culver City
The New Zealand Olympic Committee has proposed a New Zealand Hospitality House in Culver City during the 2028 Olympics. The event will include a New Zealand themed Fan Zone throughout Town Plaza. A draft site map is attached (Attachment 1). The event would take place throughout the entirety of Town Plaza, including The Steps, for 19 days, starting July 24, 2028 and ending August 11, 2028. This includes two weeks and three weekends. Setup would begin approximately seven days before and breakdown would last until two days afterwards. In total, New Zealand would use the space for a total of 4 weeks, including setup and breakdown. New Zealand is seeking to secure exclusive use of the Culver Hotel during this period for their partners’ accommodation, meeting, event, and media space.
The Hospitality House and Fan Zone activities would be open and free to the general public (with the exception of a private area for New Zealand Olympic Team supporters at the top of the Steps, and inside the Culver Hotel). Large viewing screens would be installed in the Plaza for public screening of Olympic events. Two renderings of what Town Plaza might look like are attached (Attachment 2). There would be daily programming of events, depending on the competition schedule. Popular Team USA and New Zealand Team events (such as gymnastics, basketball, swimming, athletics and rugby sevens) will result in a larger draw to the Fan Zone. The final competition schedule will be released 12-18 months ahead of the 2028 Olympics, although programming is flexible right up to the days of the events, as different team draws and results change throughout the competition. The stages within the Fan Zone would also be utilized for cultural performances, music and entertainment. The City could also utilize the stages for its own cultural activities. Further, the stages would also host medal ceremonies with New Zealand Team athletes coming to Town Plaza after their competition to celebrate, conduct live interviews, take photos with the community, and share their medals and stories.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee operated a smaller scale New Zealand House in Paris during the 2024 Olympics. During the event, 20,000 people attended 70 events and 27 cultural performances. New Zealand expects there would be many more visitors to the Culver City Hospitality House. Depending on the events taking place, the event could attract several thousand people per day.
Within Town Plaza, one of New Zealand’s ideas is to construct a series of pavilions along the walkways where displays or activities relating to New Zealand culture, tourism and trade, could showcase New Zealand to the wider community. Blending New Zealand’s culture with Culver City, other ideas include a possible New Zealand Film Festival at the Culver Theater or music concerts, blending sport and arts together during the Olympic Games.
New Zealand’s intent (in the early conceptual stage) is that food and beverage will be provided by the existing local vendors and businesses.
New Zealand has also proposed community activation, outreach and events to take place over the next four years, including partnering with schools and other local organizations.
The current description, plans and details of the event are still preliminary and subject to change.
DISCUSSION
To facilitate the use of Town Plaza, the City and New Zealand would enter a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing the expectations and responsibilities of the New Zealand Olympic Committee and the City. These would include hours of operation, noise levels, use of space, alcohol, and cost sharing, if any. The City Council may direct staff on specific provisions to seek to include in the MOU. The City Council may ask staff to return with the final MOU for its approval or delegate the final approval to the City Manager. The City would also need to enter into a license agreement with New Zealand for use of Town Plaza.
New Zealand will defer to the City as to whether alcohol will be permitted to be consumed in Town Plaza, although New Zealand is asking that alcohol be permitted to be consumed in the private supporters area at the top of The Steps. There is existing interest by the Downtown Business Association in permitting alcohol consumption in public areas downtown during special events, and this is an issue that the City Council will consider at a future City Council meeting.
Amplified sound is currently prohibited in Culver City after 10 PM, so the City will need to consider whether or not to waive this requirement for some events that may last until 12 AM.
Several other countries have expressed some level of interest in exploring a hospitality house in Culver City, although no specific commitments or plans have been proposed by any of these countries at this time. Hosting the New Zealand Hospitality House would likely exhaust the City’s existing resources necessary to support additional hospitality houses open to the public, depending on the nature, size and scale of other hospitality houses.
City Sponsorship
To be categorized as a “sponsored” event by the City, an event must meet the criteria set forth in the City Council Policy No. 2502 (Special Event Grant Program), confirming that the City is (a) participating in an official capacity in the planning, preparation or promotion of the event or activity; and (b) contributing 25% of the total estimated costs of the civic event or activity or at least $1,000, whichever is less. This contribution may take the form of funds, labor, staff time, materials, a coverage of fees, or any combination thereof.
The CCMC and Policy require conditions (a) and (b) to be satisfied. Additionally, City Council Policy requires that for an event to be considered a City-Sponsored event, the City Council is required to determine, by specific action, that the above criteria be met. This event would meet the criteria for City Sponsorship because the City will participate in the planning, preparation, and promotion of the event, which will require at least $1,000 in in-kind staff time and/or coverage of City fees, as discussed in more detail in the Fiscal Analysis sectin of this report. As a requirement for event sponsorship, the organizers for the events must identify the City of Culver City as a sponsor of the event in all promotional materials.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
The New Zealand Hospitality House would be a Special Event sponsored by the City, which is required for use of Town Plaza. When the City sponsors an event, it typically pays for partial or full cost of the City staff time and resources necessary to support the special event and/or a coverage of City fees. The New Zealand Olympic Team has asked that the Hospitality House in Culver City be considered a City Sponsored Event, with the City paying the full cost of City staff time and resources necessary to support the event. Since details about the event’s specific activities, design, operating hours, and attendance are still preliminary, there is uncertainty about the City’s final costs. Based on what is known at this time, staff estimates that hosting New Zealand’s hospitality house would result in a cost to the City’s General Fund of $527,763.
This includes the following estimated costs:
Police Support: $300,000
Fire Support: $190,000
Environmental Programs and Operations $11,346
Public Works Support: $5,000
Finance: $557
IDS (Plaza Management): $13,300
Deposit for Plaza (refundable): $3,000
Reserved Parking at City Lots: $4,560
Should the City choose to close streets, such as Culver Boulevard or Main Street, for any part of this period (such as on weekends), these costs will be higher.
The City would incur these costs during Fiscal Year 2028-2029, so they would need to be included in that fiscal year’s budget. Based on the 10-year forecast prepared at midyear, the total General Fund reserves, including Restricted and Contingency reserves, are predicted to be $86.6 million in Fiscal Year 2028-2029 based on current spending levels. If a sales tax measure passes in August 2025, the General Fund reserves are predicted to be $106.8 million during that fiscal year.
ATTACHMENTS
1. 2025-04-28 Draft Site Map
2. 2025-04-28 Draft Site Renderings
MOTIONS
That the City Council:
1. Discuss City sponsorship of the New Zealand Hospitality House and Fan Zone during the 2028 Olympics; and
2. Designate the New Zealand Hospitality House and Fan Zone as a City-sponsored event and approve an MOU and other related agreements with the New Zealand Olympic Committee for use of the Town Plaza during the 2028 Olympics for such event; and
3. Authorize the City Attorney to review/prepare the necessary documents; and
4. Authorize the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City;
OR
5. Direct the City Manager to return to City Council with the proposed MOU and related agreements for City Council’s further consideration; and
6. Provide other direction to the City Manager as deemed appropriate.