With the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games officially over, organizers of the next Olympic Games – the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games – announced that the number of ticket sales available to the public has been increased from 7.7 million to eight million for the Olympics, and an increase of 500,000 to two million for the Paralympics.
London 2012 organizers have revealed that 75 per cent of tickets which will go on sale beginning spring of 2011 will be available directly to the public via a ballot, with pricing details to be announced later this year.
London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton said, “right now we’re asking people to sign up on the ticketing website and make sure they’re in the front row for information. Ticket sales make up a significant part of our income, but at the same time we are completely committed to ensuring our events are accessible, that tickets are affordable, and that our venues are packed to the rafters with sports fans”.
He said, “the aim is to make the process as easy as possible and get people thinking about which sports they want to watch from all the different Olympic and Paralympic sports. We expect people to be more interested in tickets for some events than others. There is no fairer way for people to get in line for those tickets than by public ballot”.
London’s Mayor Boris Johnson said, “with less than 900 days to go to the London Games excitement levels are starting to pick up pace and there is understandably huge interest in tickets”.
