The Unmitigated Disaster That Was The 2004 AEG Olympics

The unmitigated disaster that was the 2004 AEG Olympics.

Sometimes great people have terrible ideas.

In 2004, I worked at AEG as a sales person. AEG had just finished building the Home Depot Center (now Dignity Health Sports Park). It was a multi-use sports facility with a professional stadium for the LA Galaxy with training facilities for track, tennis, cycling, baseball, and more.

The AEG brass had a big idea: We could bring companies in for a team-building company Olympics. The market for such events was big and we could leverage the entire property for a daylong event. They laid out the plan and we, AEG's internal staff, were going to be the guinea pigs.

I can't properly relay how much of a disaster it was.