Los Angeles City Council gives final approval to city's 2024 Olympics bid

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday gave final approval to a proposal that could bring the 2024 Olympic Games to Southern California.

The unanimous vote legally empowers the city to host the Games, if Los Angeles is selected by the International Olympic Committee in September.

It also means the city would agree to cover any financial shortfalls, which have long bedeviled the Olympics.

The privately run bid is competing against Paris and Budapest, Hungary, for the 2024 Games.

Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement that the vote highlighted strong support for the proposal in the city.

The city "is ready to host an outstanding and fiscally responsible" Games, the mayor said.

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Planners have projected the Games would cost about $5 billion to stage and the budget could generate a surplus.

Earlier this month the committee behind the bid, LA2024, announced the plan would include a new football stadium. The NFL stadium being built in Inglewood, near Los Angeles International Airport, would be used for ceremonies along with Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as part of a concept to create a "new games for a new era."

The NFL stadium is expected to open in 2019, when it will be the home of the NFL's Rams and Chargers. It already has been named as host of the 2021 Super Bowl.