When a brand takes over your park

Fan zones. Watch parties. Hospitality houses. Brand activations. Get ready for this language to become part of your daily life as Los Angeles's megaevent era kicks into overdrive. But what does our megaevent era mean for public space? Or for Angelenos who do not necessarily want to engage with said megaevents? When I discovered that our local park was transforming into a home base for New Balance as part of last weekend's All-Star Game, I had to go find out.

Lafayette Park is one of those parks that's packed every single weekend, so this Sunday afternoon was no different. New Balance had only fenced off a small section, and anyone could go in as long as you signed a liability waiver and walked through a security check. It seemed minimally disruptive to park users aside from the fact that you couldn't use some picnic tables and, of course, the basketball courts themselves at certain times of day. Vendors that regularly line the pathways were not asked to move and business might have been even brisker than usual. I asked LA's Recreation and Parks department if more parks saw these kinds of activations and if any of that sneaker money came to the city itself, but haven't gotten an answer yet — will share more information when I do.

Once inside the zone, fitted with red New Balance wristbands, we watched kids playing pickup games on New Balance-branded courts while a DJ blasted Kendrick Lamar. New Balance brought their own bathrooms (which the park could use more of anyway) and food trucks gave away lunch; as a rule, I never turn down a free crispy shrimp taco from Mariscos Jalisco. I was also pleased to see New Balance was working closely with Heart of Los Angeles, which offers free arts and athletic classes at their headquarters in the park, and drew in other sponsors for more programming for neighborhood kids, including a book giveaway. It was overall a good vibe. Eventually my own children went to the playground while I finished their ceviche tostadas.

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What made me sad, as always, was the state of the park itself. We use Lafayette Park fairly frequently, and, like most LA parks in a city facing a budget crisis, general upkeep seems to be a challenge: patchy grass, crumbling infrastructure, and so much trash. The ground inside the activation crunched beneath my feet with broken glass and Corona bottlecaps. Torched readers know we never blame our hardworking city employees for the fiscal decisions of our elected officials; park staff is doing their best with no resources. But I kept thinking about how the park's playground was burned down last year and it took months for the city to replace such a basic amenity in the most densely populated neighborhood in LA. When I went by the park later this week, the New Balance logos were painted over and the branded backboards were gone, but the courts themselves still looked great. However, the rest of the park wasn't necessarily in any better shape.

My concerns were echoed in a blistering op-ed by Jon Christensen in the Los Angeles Times this week. "City officials plan to use our park system as infrastructure for events during this summer’s World Cup and the 2028 Olympics," Christensen writes. "They talk a lot about how the games will be great for Los Angeles residents, as well as visitors and athletes. But do they have plans to invest in our parks to leave them better after the games? We need to know. Otherwise, our city parks will be left in even worse condition, with no plan to maintain — let alone improve — the system." Indeed, funding was a big part of the conversation at last month's Torched Talks with OLIN's Jessica Henson, who led the city's park needs assessment that I wrote about last year. At the end of our talk, which you can watch here, you'll hear from representatives from the Trust for Public Land who are working hard on a ballot measure to replace Prop K, which expires this year. But just getting signatures requires funding and, as Christensen writes, that funding is hard to get without the endorsement of the mayor, who has not yet voiced support for the measure.

Here we have yet another example of LA's cognitive dissonance. Our leaders brag about hosting the world's largest sporting events while they let our recreation and parks department go bankrupt. In her State of the Megaevents earlier this month, LA Mayor Karen Bass announced that 100 World Cup watch parties, free and open to the public, would be happening in LA's parks this summer. I would guess those events might look a lot like New Balance's activation. But what will be truly astonishing to witness is if our leaders continue to promote such parties without backing a plan to properly operate the parks themselves. 🔥

Why do LA's megaevent venues still have big oil sponsors? Fans against fossil fuels coordinated a 10-stadium protest last week to urge team owners to dump their big oil sponsors. Here in LA that meant demanding Dodger Stadium cut ties with that giant 76 ball in the outfield. (Although they will have to cover it up for Olympic baseball.) I was particularly intrigued to hear from the athletes who are supposed to achieve their personal best in increasingly dangerous conditions. "In the last five years, I've had to cancel training because of flooding and wildfire smoke; I've had to compete in extreme heat waves with track surfaces exceeding 140 degrees; and I've had a heat stroke while competing," said Sam Mattis, a discus thrower training for 2028. "The companies polluting our atmosphere and endangering sports have no business doing business with the teams and games we love." 

The City of Beverly Hills apologized to the Celtics' Jaylen Brown after pulling the plug on his panel discussion held on the eve of the All-Star Game at Oakley founder Jim Jannard's home. The event, which was happening during the day at a private residence, was ostensibly shut down for a missing permit, although that didn't end up being true; the whole infuriating encounter with BHPD was livestreamed. Brown said the city's statement was a "half ass apology after the damage is already done" and is considering taking legal action. Destination Crenshaw CEO Jason Foster called for more infrastructure to hold such conversations. "A discussion about the future of culture did not survive the discomfort the room brought to a select number of people," he wrote. "Solutions exist and the drive to create them are more important than ever. When we do, cultivation of cultural spaces will be more important than permits."

World Cup fan fests are getting shuffled. Remember that big Jersey City fan festival planned for the entirety of the World Cup? It just got abruptly canceled as newly elected New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill opted to use the money for smaller watch parties and street fairs all over the state. Something similar happened in the Bay Area after organizers felt they got shafted in the draw. The scaled-back celebrations will look more like LA's strategy for dispersed festivals all over the region. (Side note: it looks like downtown Burbank just got added to the list?) The Athletic also reported longtime FIFA sponsor McDonald's declined to serve as the exclusive restaurant partner for those fan fests, with unnamed sources citing "uncertainty." Could this be related to FIFA president Gianni Infantino's overtly political public displays of affection for Trump? Which the IOC is now investigating because Infantino is an IOC member — funny what and who they choose to investigate!

I can't believe I have to keep writing about Casey Wasserman. After I published my story Tuesday, I was pleased to see so many officials questioning why Wasserman should remain in power as LA28 chair if his own company gave him the boot. If you're in need of context, The Guardian's Andrew Gumbel wrote one of the best pieces, which concludes with Councilmember Monica Rodriguez pushing back on the idea that LA28 needs to keep Wasserman around: "That’s a bunch of horseshit. We’re the damned city of Los Angeles. We have major international companies with leaders who are well respected and just as qualified. We have plenty of talent to draw on." Meanwhile, Wasserman hired investment bank Moelis & Company to sell his agency. That's Moelis as in Ken Moelis — the billionaire recently named as an LA28 board member. You truly can't make this stuff up. 🦋

• Added to my list of officials calling for Wasserman to step down: West Hollywood Councilmember Chelsea Byers; West Hollywood Councilmember John Erickson, who is introducing a resolution calling on Wasserman to resign; 10 state legislators from the state's legislative megaevents committee; 37 state legislators from the LA County delegation (or maybe not). Plus a new statement from the Fair Games coalition, now 100+ groups, calling for transparency in choosing new LA28 leadership.

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The construction fences are up at the convention center for a hasty expansion ahead of 2028, but you know I was looking most closely at the branding. The managers for this project signifying the future of downtown couldn't even be bothered to update the renderings with the current LA28 logo. See the angel at left? We used that logo when we were bidding for 2024 a decade ago — which is also how long this same misguided plan for the convention center has been around. Doesn't really project "a new era for LA," now does it? But my bigger question is: with this kind of attention to detail, what else are we rushing through?

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• At Politico, Daniel Miller looks at how "in the span of a few weeks, planning for the Olympics has been buffeted by scandal and political turbulence," with a quote from me that feels like I said it about five crises ago
• "For host cities, the hope is that these astronomical costs will be offset by broader economic benefits. They argue time and again that the event will create jobs, lure tourists, and deliver an overall economic boost to the region. However, there's little evidence that this ever happens." Incredible data visualizations on Olympic hosting from Not-Ship's Amanda Shendruk.

Always a treat to join Kate Cagle on her show at Spectrum, although I never come bearing very good news. You can watch and share a clip of me talking about the calls for Casey Wasserman to step down and why his defenders are trying to argue he's key to LA28's success. I also discussed my story about the excellent SAJE report out earlier this month on the challenges LA is facing as the holder of the host city contract. And you can watch the video of my latest Torched Talks with SAJE's Chris Tyler and Neil deMause, which I thought was a particularly essential conversation at this moment we've found ourselves in as a city. I also put this one on YouTube, where I've created a brand-new Torched channel, should you prefer to watch and share it there. As the kids say, like and subscribe!