Airbnb Has Spent Over $12 Million on LA Politics Ahead of 2028

Airbnb and its nonprofit arm have spent more than $12 million on Los Angeles politics since 2025, making the company one of the biggest spenders in this year's city elections — and the money is aimed squarely at the rules governing short-term rentals through the 2028 Olympics.

The spending includes over $6 million through a political committee backing Mayor Karen Bass, city attorney candidate John McKinney and two City Council candidates, plus more than $4 million promoting a Vacation Rental Ordinance that would let second homes be listed on platforms through the end of 2028.

For sellers of travel, the stakes are distribution access in one of the largest lodging markets in the United States, at a moment when demand is projected to spike.

Why the Olympics anchor the fight

The 2028 Games are expected to draw roughly 2 million visitors to the greater Los Angeles area, generating as much as $4.3 billion in direct visitor spending for hotels, restaurants and retailers, according to a study by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation commissioned by LA28. Airbnb wants a bigger slice of that spending.

Since 2018, Los Angeles has allowed only primary residences to list on short-term rental platforms. The proposed ordinance would ease that restriction temporarily — a rollback that would expand Airbnb's bookable inventory in the city at precisely the moment visitor demand peaks.

The takeaway: this is a fight over who supplies the Olympic room inventory, not just over election outcomes.

What has the city actually proposed?

Airbnb has not yet won the argument. The City Council removed the vacation rental program from the budget it adopted in May. In August, the city planning department issued a framework that would:

• cap permits at about 15,000 units, roughly 1% of the city's housing stock;
• limit permits to individual owners and trusts;
• sunset the eased rules in December 2028.

Planning staff note the cap is unlikely to be reached, saying the city has too few second homes to fill it.

The takeaway: even the favorable version of the plan is narrower than Airbnb's ask, and temporary by design.

Whose revenue numbers hold up?

The revenue claims diverge sharply. City finance staff estimated the program would generate $25 million to $30 million in tourist tax and called that figure highly uncertain. Airbnb's coalition has cited as much as $110 million — nearly four times the city's projection and a gap sellers and policymakers will have to reconcile.

Los Angeles hoteliers are opposing the expansion on supply grounds. Industry voices, including the general manager of the Hoxton Downtown LA, told the Council that the county's 113,750 hotel rooms are already sufficient for the Olympics, the World Cup and the Super Bowl — the trifecta of mega-events landing in the city through 2028.

The takeaway: the battle is now a contest of measured estimates versus projections, with tax revenue as the scoreboard.

What comes next

The ordinance process continues against the August planning framework, with the Council's earlier budget decision showing limited appetite for a broad rollback. The deeper question for travel sellers is whether Olympic-era easing becomes a precedent for permanent post-Games rules — and Airbnb's $12 million suggests it is betting the fight will outlast 2028.