On July 28,1984, if the world survives, ten thousand athletes and officials will march into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the opening ceremonies of Olympiad XXIII. It is estimated that about half the earth’s population, some 2.5 billion people, will watch all or part of the proceedings via television.

The sale of television broadcast rights to ABC for $225 million sets a new record. Early this year Peter Ueberroth, president of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, announced that licensing and other contracts signed to date exceeded $321 million. Future income, chiefly from the sale of several million tickets, should bring the total up to $500 million. Los Angeles is already blessed with the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl. “We’ve saved a fortune by using again what was used in 1932,” says official John C. Argue.

There is one small cloud on the horizon. The United States boycotted the 1980 games in Moscow, and there is some concern that the U.S.S.R. and its satellites may retaliate in kind in 1984. Informed opinion holds this to be a possibility but not a likelihood.

—A.S.