Michael Byrnes selected to lead OKC's efforts to stage 2028 Olympic events

The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber has named Michael Byrnes to lead OKC’s efforts to stage two events in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Canoe Slalom will be at Riversport OKC and softball games will be held at Devon Park during the Olympics.

Byrnes served as President and General Manager of the Oklahoma City Comets, the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He brings extensive experience in partnership development, sales and marketing strategy, event execution and more, according to the Greater OKC Chamber.

He is working closely with LA28 on a go-forward plan for OKC’s execution.

“This is an exciting opportunity to showcase Oklahoma City, our world-class facilities, and our community,” Byrnes said. “We are embarking on something that has not been done before, the unique nature of the partnership to stage two sports at a site 1,300 miles away will require intense cooperation and planning.”

On March 28 the Los Angeles City Council voted and approved the venue plans for all the Olympic events. Then, on April 8, the OKC City Council unanimously adopted a resolution to host the canoe slalom and softball events.

“Our goal is to develop a structure and process to make this an outstanding experience for the athletes, the fans, and our residents. This will be a community-wide effort and one that I believe we will all look back on with a great sense of pride and accomplishment,” Byrnes said.

The Greater OKC Chamber said the process ahead begins with LA28, our venues and other key partners to fully develop a scope of work, followed by engaging partners across the community to create our plan of execution.

“As we have worked with LA28 and the City of Los Angeles getting to this stage, it was clear we needed a proven sports executive with strong ties in our community,” said Teresa Rose, Communities Foundation of Oklahoma, and Chair of the Chamber. “Michael Byrnes checked every box. We are confident he will be able to develop and execute a plan for success.”

The LA28 Olympics are scheduled from July 14-30, 2028.