The Olympic Games creep ever closer, yet it was revealed this week that organisers are struggling to sell tickets for certain events. In fact, the first event of the Olympics could be attended by only 11,000 spectators.
The British women’s football team will be travelling to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on July 25, to play their New Zealand counterparts in the first official event of the 2012 London Olympic Games. However, as only 11,000 tickets have been sold – an amount that totals a seventh of the commercial property’s capacity – it appears that they could be playing in a near-empty stadium.
Reasons for the sluggish sales have been considered by officials, however the public consensus appears to be that the tickets are too expensive, the commercial property is too far away from London, and finally that women’s football is not one of the most popular events on offer this summer. Obviously, due to Britain’s current position in the double-dip recession, many people cannot afford to spend their disposable income travelling to Cardiff and purchasing a relatively expensive ticket for the Games, especially if they expect to end up in a near-empty stadium when they do arrive.
However, a Locog spokesman claimed that the organisers remain hopeful that the remaining 63,500 tickets will be sold in the 11 weeks remaining before the event takes place. He said; “We are confident that, as excitement builds, people will want to get behind Team GB as they kick off the Games in Cardiff.
“With matches happening all over the UK, the football tournament provides a great opportunity to see the Olympic Games wherever people live.”
By contrast, the men’s football team’s match against Senegal at Old Trafford, Manchester United’s commercial property, is nearing capacity, with 62,000 out of a possible 75,811 tickets sold.
The news that the first event of the Olympic Games could be a washout came on the same day that organisers revealed the retailing plan for the remaining 900,000 Olympics tickets. These are available for a range of events across the majority of the Olympic commercial properties, including the men’s 100m final and the opening and closing ceremonies.
Organisers will launch the ticket sales later this month, prioritising the 20,000 people who registered an interest in acquiring tickets for certain events during the first two rounds of sales, but were unsuccessful in buying tickets. These went on sale at 11am this morning, and will be available for purchase for 31 hours.
Next in line to be offered tickets will be the million people who lost out during the first round of sales. They will have a five day period, beginning on Sunday, to buy tickets on a first come, first served basis. Any tickets left following the priority sales will be made available to the general public from May 23rd.
Lord Coe, chairman of Locog, said; “We know thousands of sports fans were disappointed when they missed out in the initial sales period.
“We promised we would prioritise these fans when we released the contingency tickets, which is exactly what we’re doing.”
Are you going to an event at the Olympics, or hoping to get a ticket in the next round of sales? Or are you, like so many people in the country, simply sick of hearing about it?
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