“We are delivering on a ticket program designed to meet our goal of ensuring every venue is full, that every seat is used, for every event for every single game.”

~~~

For the price of 46 jugs of milk you could be track-side during Olympic speed skating competition in 2010.

Shelling out $95 will land a cheap seat at the Richmond oval during the Winter Games, and $185 will get one of the best seats in the house.

“It would be easy to think its just another ticket to another sports event, but it’s not. It’s the entire Olympic experience, an experience that will not likely come our way for many many years,” said John Furlong, chief executive officer of the Vancouver Organizing Committee.

Thursday was the first time VANOC has released details of its ticket plan and prices for Winter Games events. The announcement came a full year before tickets will go on sale.

In all, VANOC has 1.6 million tickets to distribute. Some will sell for as little as $25, others as much as $1,100.

About half will cost $100 or less, and VANOC is also committed to handing out 50,000 free tickets to people who otherwise couldn’t afford to go.

Victory ceremonies, held at Celebration Plaza in Whistler and B.C. Place in Vancouver, will be the cheapest tickets in town. A “significant portion” of tickets will be free, according to VANOC, and the rest of the tickets won’t top $25.

Furlong said the ticket program is designed to be accessible and affordable and for seats to be full.

“We are delivering on a ticket program designed to meet our goal of ensuring every venue is full, that every seat is used, for every event for every single game.”

Dave Cobb, VANOC vice-president of revenue, marketing and
communications, said the ticket program is also aimed at meeting its budget goal of $232 million, allowing the Olympics to finish with a surplus and ensure a cash contribution to amateur sport.

Approximately 30 per cent of the tickets will be set aside for “Olympic partners”: International Olympic Committee, national Olympic committees, international sport federations, athletes and their families, media and sponsors.

VANOC brass want to avoid a problem that plagued the Torino 2006 Games: Olympic partners not using their seats.

Cobb said VANOC is planning to reduce their ticket allocation for preliminary matches and events.

“We’ll be able to shrink those sections when demand allows us and make those additional tickets available to the general public when those events happen.”

For long track speed skating, the City of Richmond’s agreement with VANOC guarantees city officials will also get a portion of the 8,000 seats. According to the agreement, eligible for tickets are the mayor and a guest, councillors and a guest, “a limited number” of city officials and “a limited number” of people involved in amateur sport whom the city wishes to invite.

Securing a ticket will be different than frantically dialing Ticketmaster for a River Rock Show Theatre concert.

Tickets will be available through VANOC’s soon-to-be-announced ticket agent. Beginning in October 2008, those interested will complete an application requesting all tickets they want. After 30 to 45 days, the application period closes, and tickets are awarded. For any event where demand outstrips supply, a random lottery will choose the ticket holders.

A similar process will be launched at a later date for events that haven’t sold out. Following that, all remaining tickets will be sold first-come, first-served.

Tickets will go on sale at the same time for Canadians and the rest of the world, who will buy tickets alloted by VANOC to their international Olympic committees. That allotment will be based on previous Games’ attendance and a country’s interest in particular sports.

“The vast majority of all the public tickets will go to Canadians. That’s what’s happened in the past, so we don’t think it will be any different here, but we do have strong international demand,” said Caley Denton, VANOC’s vice-president of ticket and consumer marketing.

Tickets won’t be physically handed out until late 2009 to avoid counterfeiting. But once they’re available, there’s no process to prevent them from being resold at a higher price.

For high demand sports, VANOC officials did say they will limit the number of tickets per application to two to four—something that will prevent ticket resellers from buying mass quantities.

Instead of preventing re-sales, Cobb said VANOC will be educating people about the dangers of buying second-hand tickets, such as counterfeit tickets or cancelled tickets due to theft.

“In major events around the world, like world cups, like Olympics, inevitably there will be counterfeit tickets out there. And if people want assurance that they’re going to go into a venue and have their ticket accepted, they need to buy it from us,” said Cobb.

VANOC will, however, be working with its agent to develop an online ticket exchange program for people who legitimately want to resell their tickets.

“There will be people looking to sell tickets at Games time. Whether it’s because their team didn’t make it to the gold medal final and they were expecting to, or plans change and they just can’t go,” said Cobb.

2010 ticket prices:
Alpine Skiing: $120 to $150
Biathlon: $25 to $70
Bobsleigh: $30 to $85
Cross-Country Skiing: $25 to $70
Curling: $65 to $125
Figure Skating: $50 to $525
Freestyle Skiing: $50 to $150
Ice Hockey: $25 to $775
Long Track Speed Skating (Richmond oval): $95 to $185
Luge: $40 to $85
Nordic Combined: $50 to $120
Short Track Speed Skating: $50 to $150
Skeleton: $30 to $85
Ski Jumping: $80 to $210
Snowboard: $50 to $150
Opening Ceremony: $175 to $1,100
Closing Ceremony: $175 to $775

By Matthew Hoekstra - Richmond Review - October 12, 2007

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