Empty seats overshadow Games, China dominates

[bemildred]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Organizers fought to quell growing public outrage on Sunday over empty seats across venues at the London Olympics, where China has laid down an early marker with a world record win in the pool and a commanding early lead in the medals table.

Dispiriting images of rows of vacant rows at football stadiums, Wimbledon, the aquatic center and beyond has angered Britons who tried and failed to buy tickets in the buildup to the Games having been told they had sold out.

More empty seats were reported on Sunday including at the equestrian dressage at Greenwich Park, despite the draw of Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter Zara Phillips making an Olympic debut.

Heavy rain after a hot, dry spell also put a dampener on outdoor events on the second day of full sporting contest, as did the announcement that Uzbek gymnast Luiza Galiulina was provisionally banned from the Games for a positive drugs test.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/29/us-oly-wrap-day-idUSBRE86S00Q20120729

[Lars77]

1. That what you get when the games are sold to sponsors who don't give a shit

Thousands of people have been begging them to put more tickets on sale, while corporate clients who don't even use them have loads.

[wordpix]

2. I did not see ticket prices in the article but when people's jobs are uncertain or they have no jobs

high ticket prices keep them away

[may3rd]

7. everybody must be working security jobs... or on the "Can not buy" list

people can't afford to attend in these bad economic times and the corporate seat purchaser refuse to go, fearing a bomb will end their olympic experience

[wordpix]

13. here's a wikianswer to the cost of tix: $31-$3,118, depending on event

Answer:
There will be 8.8 million tickets sold for the 650 sessions of sport. Spread out over 30 plus venues the tickets will range from 20£ to 2,012£, with the most expensive seats being for the opening ceremony (2,012£ / 3,118US$) and closing ceremony (1,500£ / 2,325US$).

All sports will have at least one session with seats starting from 20£ / 31US$, but sessions that are usually oversubscribed have the higher price tags. Athletics (725£ / 1,124US$), Swimming (450£ / 700US$), and Cycling (325£ / 500US$) are among the most popular and good final tickets for Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, and Diving won't be cheap.

The opening and closing ceremony will be at the new constructed Olympic Stadium which has a capacity of 80,000 seats. With organisers expecting 250,000 people to flow into Olympic Park each day of the games, this is likely to be the biggest Olympic Games yet.


Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_do_2012_Olympic_tickets_cost#ixzz221ndVI93

So if you go to one session for an event not-so-popular, it's $31, but a popular event costs $500-1124. No wonder seats are empty.

[pscot]

17. $700 to watch a swim meet?

[PaulaFarrell]

16. i think virtually every seat up for sale in the uk sold

these are seats that were not put up for general sale

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. Many people said that they couldn't get tickets

I guess now is the time to get one?

[lunatica]

4. Maybe this has something to do with the subway system "crawling"

London Crawling:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021040175

[GodlessBiker]

5. And with TV/online technology getting better, why not sit at home?

[maindawg]

6. noticed that last nite

I came home pretty late, turned on the tv and watched an hour of it. I noticed the empty seats and thought WTF?
then they have all these idiotic segments featuring some NBC personality interview with pomp and inane crapolla.That is why I dont watch. You have to wade through so much crap to watch a sliver of an event its not worth your time.

[pscot]

18. Between the witless commentary

and the commercial crapola, MSNBC is unwatchable. The CBC is better if you live near the border.

[bemildred]

8. London 2012: Olympics venues stuffed - Lord Coe

Olympics venues are "stuffed to the gunnels" with sports fans, London 2012 chairman Lord Coe has insisted after hundreds of seats were left empty on Saturday and Sunday morning.

Events affected included swimming, rowing, tennis and basketball.

"I don't think you will be seeing this as an issue, long-term through the Games," he said.

Meanwhile, GB swimmer Rebecca Adlington has reached the 400m freestyle final, where she will defend her title later.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19034653

[grilled onions]

9. Ticket Sabatoge?

It seems strange that the Mitt trash talked the Brits and THEIR olympics before it even began. How difficult would it have been for his "team" or any repub "team" to buy groups of tickets with plans of a no show to make the Brit games less successful then the "Romney Olympics" putting another feather in his political war bonnet.

[B2G]

11. Seriously??

It's pretty simple. Corporate sponsors and VIPs got the lion's share of them. And they aren't showing up.

[liberal N proud]

10. People fill seats not corporations.

Proving corporations are NOT people.

[benld74]

12. Different times, vastly different situations,

Bejiing greater population,
Just how many of those in seats then, actually paid for them or were they TOLD to be there?
On the other hand, the world economy was vastly different in 2008

BUT look at the 2008 Venues now:

http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/olympics-before-and-after-beijing-s-2008-olympic-venues-four-years-later-slideshow/2008-beijing-olympic-sites-now-beach-volleyball-photo-1341635096.html

[lynne]

14. I work in a large performance venue and this is not uncommon -

Many times the house is totally sold out yet you'll see empty seats everywhere. I've never seen a house where all seats were filled during a sold-out performance.

Reasons vary. People get sick, people have emergencies, weather can be a factor if it's an outside event. BUT, a ticket is a contract and you cannot sell a seat twice. The ticket holder has the right to that seat even if they come in at the last 10 minutes of the performance.

Only had they pre-thought this situation and made note on each ticket that the seat will be forfeited if it is not filled within a certain amount of time could this have been avoided.

[wordpix]

15. how come Mittie missed this one when he was bashing the British preparations?

Not so good at his specialty of Olympics-saving, is he?

[Beacool]

19. Mittens may have been tactless, but he said the truth.

They had been talking for days about the poor job the security firm had done and how the government had to step in to cover for them. Although it would have been better for him if he had just kept his mouth shut.