As the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games continue, Sports Business Journal is convening a daily roundtable of corporate partners and Olympic leaders to assess what these Games signal for LA28 and beyond.
OBE’s President of Onboard Sports Advisory, Dave Mingey, is among the voices shaping the conversation.
In this installment, the focus turned to advanced planning and what brands must consider as the movement heads toward Los Angeles.
One key takeaway: the real competition may be the “games around the Games.”
In Los Angeles, sport will collide with pop culture at unprecedented scale. Success will not be about venue presence alone. It will be about cultural gravity.
As Dave shared:
“We’ve never seen the intersection of pop culture and sports on a stage like this… Who’s got the cool? And we all know it’s impossible to chase cool, so it has to be created.”
For brands looking ahead to LA28 and Utah 2034, the opportunity extends beyond activation. It requires early planning, clear positioning, and the ability to create moments that resonate beyond the field of play.
Read the full Sports Business Journal roundtable here:
Missed Part 1? Read it here.