Eleven years is a long time to wait for anything, but the legal team behind Los Angeles' bid for the 2028 Summer Games, which was blessed by the International Olympic Committee this week, has given every indication that it can go the distance.

“I thought two years—the time between us getting the domestic bid and waiting for the final word—seemed like all the time in the world,” said Jon Oram, a top transactional attorney and partner at Proskauer Rose, who served as counsel to the Los Angeles Olympic Bid Committee.

That was in August 2015, but he'd actually come aboard more than a year before that, at the behest of Casey Wasserman, the chairman and driving force behind LA's Olympic bid. Oram had come to know the founder of the fast-rising Wasserman Media Group while at Proskauer, a powerhouse in sports law, and offered to help.