Thousands of people were on hand for a sneak preview of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony.
But while spectators were invited to enjoy the preview, Games organizers were reportedly reluctant to let the world’s public view the event. A media ban prohibited news crews broadcasting images of the ceremony so as not to ruin the surprise when the actual Ceremony takes place.
Media outlets were instead given a 30-second snapshot of proceedings and risked a $240,000 fine if they broadcasted their own material. The Opening Ceremony will be held Wednesday night when the Queen will officially open the Games.
Meanwhile about 12,000 tickets remain unsold for the Opening Ceremony. Organizers have reportedly admitted they may use volunteers to fill gaps in the cavernous 100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), although Melburnians might not be too happy after paying up to $A590 for the privilege of being there.
Still Games chief executive John Hamden said Friday, “Opening Ceremony sales are going well. We’ve sold about 4000 tickets over the last seven days (and) those rates of sales are continuing”.
He said a record 1.3 million tickets had been sold across the 12 days of the Games, but media attention had focused on sluggish ceremony tickets.
He said the challenge was to fill Melbourne’s massive stadiums, which dwarfed Games venues in the Athens 2004 Olympics, the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games and the Atlanta 1996 Olympics.
Organizers say they hope to sell a total of 81,000 tickets to fill the MCG for both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
The Melbourne Games run from March 15-26.
