LA28 opened applications last week for up to 60,000 volunteer roles at the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics. More than 300,000 people had already signed up for updates before the portal even went live, according to LA28. Every one of those 60,000 jobs is unpaid, and volunteers cover their own travel and housing. Each must commit to at least 10 shifts of about eight hours across one of eight host cities.
Los Angeles ran this exact experiment in 1984, at less than half the scale. Paris ran it again in 2024, and the unpaid, oversubscribed model that produced is the one LA28 just copied.
Sixty Thousand Roles, One Rolling Deadline
To qualify, applicants must be at least 18 years old and proficient in English. They need to commit to a minimum of 10 non-consecutive shifts of roughly eight hours each, worked either during the Olympic volunteer period from March through August 2028 or the Paralympic volunteer period from August through September 2028. Applicants also have to be physically present in one of eight regions during those windows: Greater Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, New York City, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, San José or San Diego.
LA28 grouped the roles into seven categories:
- Ceremonies
- Communications
- Driving
- Experience
- Medical Operations
- Sport
- Technology
LA28 has branded the search the role of a lifetime, timed to land exactly two years before the Opening Ceremony.
Volunteers are the backbone of the Games. They are a friendly face who helps welcome the world, create memorable experiences and bring the Olympic and Paralympic spirit to life.
Reynold Hoover, LA28’s chief executive officer, said that in the statement announcing the application window. He added that the volunteers’ impact cannot be overstated, since they will stand behind every event, venue and moment of the Games.
The Last Time LA Tried This, It Needed a Third as Many
Los Angeles has hosted the Olympics twice before, in 1932 and 1984. In 2028 it becomes just the third city, after London and Paris, to host the Summer Games three times. When LA last ran the Games in 1984, nearly 29,000 volunteers staffed it. LA28 is now recruiting more than double that number, largely to run a Games built on the same stock of existing stadiums and arenas rather than new construction.
Organizers have framed the milestone as a chance to score a three-peat, a label that fits the volunteer program just as well as the medal count.
Four-time 1984 gold medalist Carl Lewis is the volunteer program’s official ambassador. Lewis has said the Olympic magic comes as much from the people who show up to support athletes as from the athletes themselves, a lesson he has traced back to watching his parents, both public school teachers, coach youth track for years. LA28’s own volunteer logo, a colorful letter A built from interlocking shapes, is described on the organization’s site as a nod to the city’s third Games.
Paris Already Showed What Happens Next
Paris ran essentially the same casting call two years ago. The 2024 organizing committee recruited 45,000 volunteers, split roughly 30,000 for the Olympics and 15,000 for the Paralympics, and drew about 300,000 applications for those spots. That put Paris’s acceptance rate at around 15 percent.
French officials were blunt about the trade-off. Michel Cadot, the government’s inter-ministerial delegate for the Games, told the Senate that volunteers would have to fend for themselves on both transport and housing. Sortiraparis, a French outlet that covered the recruitment, reported that many volunteers would need to lean on relatives just to find a place to stay during the Games.
| Host City and Year | Volunteers Recruited | Known Applicant Pool |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles, 1984 | About 29,000 | Not publicly disclosed |
| Paris, 2024 | 45,000 (30,000 Olympic, 15,000 Paralympic) | About 300,000 |
| Los Angeles, 2028 (LA28) | Up to 60,000 | 300,000+ registered interest at launch |
LA28’s window had not even closed when its interest list already approached what Paris needed a full application cycle to reach.
The Unpaid Math Behind a $7 Billion Production
Multiply it out. Sixty thousand volunteers, each working a floor of 10 eight hour shifts, adds up to at least 4.8 million hours of unpaid labor before a single overtime shift or extra assignment gets counted.
LA28’s own FAQ page states that travel and lodging are not covered for any volunteer role. That labor underwrites a Games budgeted at more than $7.1 billion, funded almost entirely outside city and state government, according to LA28’s latest annual report.
Public records assembled by LAist show some of the largest pieces of that funding puzzle:
| Funding Source | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| International Olympic Committee | About $1.39 billion | Direct contribution to the Games budget |
| U.S. federal government | $1 billion committed | Security operations |
| U.S. federal government | $2 billion requested | Games-specific transit upgrades |
| Corporate sponsorship | $2.5 billion goal | Founding and presenting partner deals, including Delta and Honda |
| City and state contingency | $270 million each | Backstop for cost overruns beyond LA28’s own reserve |
Delta Air Lines, LA28’s founding partner since 2020, is also the presenting partner of the volunteer program itself. “Service is at the heart of Delta’s culture,” said Emmakate Young, Delta’s managing director of sponsorships and partnership management.
Seven Cities Most People Won’t Associate with the Olympics
Most of the 60,000 roles sit in greater Los Angeles, but LA28 needs crews in seven other cities that rarely come up when people picture these Games. Oklahoma City will host softball and canoe slalom. New York, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, San José and San Diego will host group stage matches in the football tournament.
Los Angeles itself will lean on existing buildings rather than new construction. Organizers plan to use facilities such as SoFi Stadium, greenlit last year as the Games’ swimming venue, alongside the Coliseum, which opens its third Olympics in 2028.
Volunteers assigned to Medical Operations during the Paralympic window will work inside a competition structure that sorts athletes by the sport’s T-codes, the classification system that groups Paralympic competitors by impairment type.
Who Actually Gets Picked?
LA28 will not resolve all 60,000 slots at once. Applicants get updates on their status on a rolling basis through 2027, more than a year after the July 14 window opened.
The program has already been building a track record before Games time. Community volunteering under the LA28 banner started in 2025, and organizers say it has run more than two dozen events across the Los Angeles region, including beach clean ups and food packing drives, through a partnership with the nonprofit marketplace L.A. Works.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do LA28 Volunteers Need to Live in the United States?
No. LAist has reported that volunteers do not need to be local to Los Angeles or even live in the U.S., and NBC Los Angeles has reported that U.S. citizenship and California residency are not required either. Anyone who meets the age and English requirements can apply from anywhere in the world.
Is There an Age Limit for LA28 Volunteers?
The minimum is 18 at the time of application, and there is no published maximum. At LA28’s July 14 announcement, organizers highlighted a volunteer from the 1984 Los Angeles Games who plans to return at age 90, according to Forbes’ coverage of the event.
Will LA28 Interview Volunteers Before Placing Them?
Yes. LAist has reported that applicants who advance past initial screening get a chance to interview, either in person in Los Angeles or online, before they are assigned a specific role and venue.
Does Community Volunteering Improve Your Chances at LA28?
It is not required, but organizers have said early involvement can strengthen an application. LA28 has run community volunteering events since 2025 through its partnership with L.A. Works, giving prospective Games time volunteers a way to build a track record ahead of selection.
What Do Unpaid LA28 Volunteers Receive Instead of Pay?
LA28’s FAQ page states plainly that roles are unpaid and that travel and lodging costs are not reimbursed. In place of a wage, the International Olympic Committee’s volunteer page says participants receive a uniform and a participation certificate, alongside training and access to a lasting alumni network.
