Can Los Angeles turn the Paralympics into a can’t-miss event on TV in 2028?

As a rising star at the 2024 Paralympics, Ezra Frech was thrilled to win gold medals in the 100-meter dash and high jump, but the Los Angeles teenager was also hoping for a much bigger victory.

The large crowds and record-breaking TV coverage give him a good feeling about the past two weeks in Paris. It makes him think about 2028, when the Games will come to his hometown.

“This is a unique opportunity for Paralympic sport,” he said. “I can’t wait to build on that momentum in Los Angeles.”

Other para athletes and officials share his sense of optimism. After decades of competing for attention, they feel ready to step out of the shadow of their older, more glamorous sister, the Summer Olympics.

As Frech put it, “I feel like the Paralympics are where the women’s sports movement was maybe 15 years ago. We’re getting closer to the mainstream.”

The onus now falls on LA28 organizers to continue building on what Paris has achieved. The executive director of the International Paralympic Committee sounded optimistic.

“We want to conquer America,” spokesman Craig Spence said. “It’s that simple.”

The movement has taken a step back in the past decade since the 2012 London Paralympics, considered the most successful in history. The numbers from Paris suggest a rebound.

More than 1,450 hours of live coverage were made available to 225 media companies that obtained rights to the Games. The IPC predicts that the number of viewers worldwide will exceed 4.1 billion.

In the U.S., NBCUniversal offered 140 hours of coverage across its various channels and 1,500 hours of streaming on Peacock. The NBC network averaged 1.32 million viewers over the first six days, up 49% from Tokyo three years ago.

Attendance in Paris was equally encouraging, with ticket sales surpassing 2.4 million by the final weekend. The athletes sounded almost jubilant.

“It was really crazy,” said Hannah Moore, a British paratriathlete. “It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before, just too many people shouting after you.”

Despite all this, there is still much to be done before 2028.

A recent congressional report titled “Passing the Torch” recommended that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee use its influence (the country pumps billions into both movements) to pressure broadcasters to increase their coverage.

Evan Medell from the USA, a bronze medalist in taekwondo, wants sports federations to increase marketing involvement of him and other sports disciplines.

“Even in our taekwondo community,” he said, “people don’t even know para is a part of it.”

Athletes know they have to shoulder some of the burden. It’s no longer enough to train and win medals, said U.S. swimmer Jamal Hill, who sees a need for athletes to promote themselves through social media and other channels.

Frech has become the face of the Paralympic movement, giving frequent interviews, walking the runway in fashion shows and growing his social media following to more than half a million. He says: “It comes from us as athletes building our own stories, building our own brands, creating our own narratives, right?”

The hope is that Paralympic sport will reach a turning point similar to what women’s basketball is currently experiencing with the popularity of Caitlin Clark.

The crossover star “changes everything,” said Justin Phongsavanh, an American javelin thrower. “Now we have more viewership, now we have more money, now we have more fans. We have all of that because we had a pioneer.”

Although Los Angeles has hosted the Olympic Games twice before, this will be the first time since 1988, when it began hosting the Paralympics.

Much of the Paralympics’ success will depend on the amount of coverage and advertising NBC is willing to commit to. Closer to home, marketing will be essential to driving ticket sales.

“The Paralympic Games don’t have the same awareness or profile in the U.S. as they do in Europe,” Spence said. “My advice is to spend the next two years educating the public about what to expect… why we’re so special.”

So far, LA28 has made history as the first organizing committee to add a new sport to its official program—para-climbing. The question remains whether the Paralympics, like the Olympics did a few weeks earlier, will hold events at major venues like SoFi Stadium and the Intuit Dome.

LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover envisions more than just sports, calling the Games “a unique opportunity to celebrate people with disabilities,” adding that “when 4,400 Paralympians come to Los Angeles to fulfill their wildest dreams, we’ll be ready for them.”

City officials also worked with Mayor Karen Bass, who led a group to Paris to check out the availability of the sports village and sports facilities.

For all his optimism, Frech is aware of the challenges that lie ahead.

Along with family and friends, he helped found Angel City Sports, a local nonprofit that offers adaptive sports clinics, classes and competitions. He will also be part of the LA28 handover presentation at Sunday’s closing ceremony.

“We’re fighting a lot of things, it’s a tough fight,” he said of the next four years. “I’m willing to do whatever I can to make it happen in Los Angeles.”