Airbnb Has Poured $12 Million Into 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 players in this year's city elections — and the money maps directly onto its regulatory agenda.

The spending breaks down into two tracks. Over $6 million went through a political committee backing Mayor Karen Bass, city attorney candidate John McKinney, and two City Council candidates. Another $4 million-plus pushed a Vacation Rental Ordinance that would let second homes be listed on short-term rental platforms through the end of 2028.

What's driving the push?

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

Since 2018, LA has allowed only primary residences to list on platforms like Airbnb. A temporary rollback — even one that expires after the Games — would give Airbnb a bigger slice of that Olympic spending and, potentially, a precedent for what comes after 2028.

Where does the proposal stand?

Not far, and that's the point of the campaign spending. The City Council removed the vacation rental program from the budget it adopted in May. City planning's August framework would go further than critics feared in some ways and less in others:

• Permits capped at about 15,000 units — roughly 1% of the city's housing stock
• Permits limited to individual owners and trusts
• Eased rules sunsetting in December 2028

Planning officials say the cap is somewhat theoretical: the city has too few second homes to actually fill it.

Who's right about the money?

The revenue estimates diverge sharply. City finance staff estimated the program might generate $25 million to $30 million in tourist tax, and called even that figure highly uncertain. Airbnb's coalition has cited up to $110 million — roughly four times the city's number.

For scale, that $110 million claim would represent about 2.6% of the projected $4.3 billion in Olympic visitor spending, while the city's own estimate would capture less than 1% of it.

Hoteliers are pushing back on the supply argument entirely. Local operators, including the general manager of the Hoxton Downtown LA, told the Council that the county's 113,750 hotel rooms are already enough to cover not just the Olympics but the World Cup and Super Bowl landing in the same window.

What does this change for operators?

For now, nothing — the 2018 primary-residence rule stands. But the fight sets up two concrete outcomes worth watching. If the ordinance passes with the December 2028 sunset, roughly 15,000 additional units of short-term supply could enter the market during peak Olympic demand, putting direct pricing pressure on hotels in a window when they'd otherwise command their highest rates of the decade.

If it fails, Airbnb's $12 million still bought allies at City Hall who will shape the rules after the Games — which may have been the bigger bet all along.