Olympic Broadcasting Services plans to revolutionize the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics with artificial intelligence technology and extensive celebrity involvement. The approach builds on innovations from the current Milan Winter Games, which featured high-speed drones capturing dramatic new footage of athletes.
The head of Olympic Broadcasting Services revealed ambitious plans Tuesday for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, promising an unprecedented viewing experience powered by artificial intelligence and Hollywood star power.
Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of OBS, outlined his vision during an interview from Milan, where the current Winter Games have captivated audiences with cutting-edge drone technology. Fifteen First-Person View drones have been racing alongside skiers at speeds reaching 120 kilometers per hour and following luge and skeleton competitors through ice tracks, creating spectacular footage that has become the visual highlight of these Games.
The success in Milan has established high expectations for Los Angeles, according to Exarchos, whose organization creates the global television feed distributed to broadcasters worldwide.
“If the destination is a city which is a metropolis of story-telling and one of the greatest metropolises of technology in the world then expectations are very, very big,” Exarchos explained to Reuters. “This is a nice challenge to have. We need to think about how we can excite people.”
Currently, OBS operates more than 1,300 cameras and 1,800 microphones in Milan to document every angle of competition. By 2028, advancing artificial intelligence capabilities will transform how viewers interact with Olympic coverage, potentially allowing them to pause action, access instant statistical information, or compare current performances with historical records in real-time.
“AI unleashed new opportunities with the way people are interacting with content. By the time of LA we will have many more opportunities to use AI technologies to further personalise the experience,” Exarchos stated.
The technology will enable viewers to engage conversationally with broadcasts, Exarchos explained. “In LA we will start facilitating viewers to be having a conversation. To be able to say ‘Stop here, show me this image again’ or ‘Show me what this reminds me of’ or ‘Has anyone done this better?’,” he said. “This is the vision that will start being manifested.”
Beyond technological advances, the Los Angeles Games will leverage the entertainment industry’s talent pool to attract broader audiences beyond traditional sports fans. The International Olympic Committee seeks to expand viewership by incorporating major celebrities into Olympic programming.
OBS pioneered celebrity integration with the “Prelude to the Olympics” red carpet event before Paris 2024, featuring stars like Zendaya, Charlize Theron, and Serena Williams. A comparable gathering at Milan’s La Scala opera house included American actors Stanley Tucci, Jeff Goldblum, and Marisa Tomei, along with singer Usher and fashion designer Donatella Versace. Los Angeles plans to expand this celebrity presence significantly.
“The Olympics are being watched not just by sports fans. Half of the viewers are what we call casual viewers, so there will be this mix of entertainment culture and sports culture,” Exarchos noted.
“Increasingly the presentation of all these events involves a wider number of talent. Apart from sports talent we see a tendency to bring into the Olympics talent from other entertainment industries. Just what NBC has been doing with (rapper) Snoop Dogg.”
Snoop Dogg has maintained a prominent presence at both Paris and Milan Games as NBC’s entertainment ambassador, energizing Team USA supporters and performing at Long Beach during the LA 2028 handover ceremony.
“The Olympics remain one of only a few massive audience aggregators in the world. They have the capacity to focus the attention of the whole world in the event,” Exarchos concluded.