London 2012 Olympics Tickets

An article today in TheGuardian discusses Boris Johnson's (London Mayor) request for transparency from LOCOG (London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games) about how Olympic tickets have been allocated. His concern, and that of citizen advocacy groups, is that taxpayers may not be getting a reasonable allocation of tickets, particularly for marquee events. As a case in point, about 39% of total tickets will be made available to the British public for the 100M final (29,000 tickets out of 74,000 possible). In LOCOG's defense, Olympics ticketing allocation is tricky, with multiple forces putting pressure on the Games organizers. Pricing is complex, with different tiers and prices for each sports event. Each venue is unique, adding to the complexity. Even though tickets are just one of several revenue streams, expectations that the Games will turn a profit direclty affect ticketing pricing and allocation decisions. LOCOG must also meet the demands of key sponsors and VIPs from global governments, as well as the needs of Parliament's politicians. LOCOG is reluctant to release figures about how many tickets have been sold for each event and the corresponding prices, given that not all of the tickets have been sold. But any organizing committee would be remiss if they underserved local fans, and members of the British public are understandably seeking fairness in the ticketing allocation since their taxes are helping fund the Games. The good news is that of the 8.8 million tickets made available overall, 75% have been allocated to the British public and in April the final 1.3 million tickets will be available for sale. I discuss Olympic ticketing practices in greater detail in my latest book, The Olympic Games Effect.