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Controversy erupts over half-empty Olympic venues — including Wimbledon
When people are paying top dollar for Olympic tickets and the lower bowl looks practically deserted, you can bet there is going to be anger.
It's not like this hasn't been seen before at the Games — large blocks of empty seats that are said to be sold but are unoccupied. The price point might not also reflect there is a recession. However, it's become a scandal in London after even venues in the marquee sports were half-empty. (Predictably, there is "The empty seat" Twitter account: @OlympicSeat). Meantime, Scotland Yard is probing some instances of ticket scalping.
Sports fans from all over Britain who had been charmed by the Olympic publicity offensive, but were let down by a complex ballot system for the 8.8 million tickets, have been outraged by footage of empty seats at key venues including Wimbledon - one of the hottest tickets in world tennis.
London organising committee (LOCOG) Chairman Sebastian Coe, who threatened to name and shame sponsors that did not fill their seats, said missing spectators were mostly officials from international sports federations, other Olympic officials, their families and friends.
"It doesn't obviously appear to be a sponsorship issue at the moment," Coe said, after [British] Culture Minister Jeremy Hunt said he thought the vacant seats had belonged to sponsors.
Coe ... said that only eight percent of allocated tickets went to big corporate sponsors such as Visa and Coca-Cola and that 75 percent of tickets were in the hands of the public. (Reuters UK)
Of course, it could never be the sponsors.
Needless to say, at an event where buying anything means paying a mark-up, it's going to be hard to avoid an outcry. It sounds as if London 2012 might have to dump some inventory.
The ticketing situation will have caused a further headache for Coe, who admitted before the Opening Ceremony prices were under review amid fears some venues could remain partly empty.
The London 2012 chairman said that although two million more Olympic tickets have been sold in recent months, the prices of more expensive seats could be cut. (Daily Mail)
Some tickets are going to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. British soldiers will also get free seats. and it's also possible that some fans bought tickets for an entire event and just are not planning to show up for the early rounds. That often happens at international sports events, but most of them don't cost a city $14.5 billion US to put on. So when people see empty seats, yeah, they're going to be mad.
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.
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