Santa Monica Council authorizes staff to negotiate major events package for 2026–2028

The Santa Monica City Council on the final meeting of 2025 authorized the city manager to negotiate a series of agreements to host major event activations on city property from 2026 through 2028, including a FIFA World Cup pitch-side club at the Pier, a proposed annual music festival, ESPN fan engagement events in 2027 and multiple Olympic and Paralympic activations in 2028.

Deputy City Manager Peter James and Acting Events Manager Aaron Orozco described a two-pathway approach to proposals: a "high-benefit" model that provides open access, legacy improvements and priority scheduling, and a "low-benefit" model for more exclusive, profit-driven events. James said staff developed a pricing methodology that "establishes cost recovery as our minimum standard such that the city incurs no net loss and provides no public subsidy to the production of these events." Orozco added that organizers awarded or under consideration include Goldenvoice for a proposed music festival and a proposal from the French National Olympic and Sport Committee for a Club France hospitality house at the Annenberg Community Beach House.

Council members pressed staff on terms and timelines. Councilmember [Raskin] moved the motion to proceed with the staff-recommended actions for item 11a, which included CEQA findings and authorization to negotiate agreements; the motion was seconded and approved unanimously. Council direction emphasized documenting and measuring local economic impacts — hotel bookings, sales tax and local hiring — and specifying "legacy benefits" such as public improvements to parks and accessibility infrastructure that event partners could fund in exchange for use of city land.

Staff said exclusive negotiating agreements (ENAs) would vary in length depending on how advanced a proposal is, "as short as 9 months up to 18 months," with shorter term sheets for deals farther along. For multi-month activations the city will price land value, any displaced parking, and costs such as private security and production services into a comprehensive fee.

The council’s approval lets staff advance negotiations with prospective partners including Goldenvoice, ESPN and an Anheuser-Busch pitch-side activation. The next steps staff outlined include negotiating license agreements and amendments to local codes where temporary deviations (for hours, signage, lighting or noise) may be required, and returning items to council for DA approvals.