[ 2011-04-28 ]

Rachel Ennis performs rhythmic gymnastics, which has proved the surprise hit of next year's Olympics

Millions jump through hoops to get their hands on Olympics tickets
The opening ceremony for the London Olympics was
such a popular draw among those who applied for
tickets that it was oversubscribed by more than
ten times.

A number of sports, such as track cycling and the
triathlon, have completely sold out, as has
rhythmic gymnastics — the most surprising hit
among those hoping to attend the 2012 Games. There
are, however, tickets left unsold for some of the
athletics sessions.

After the deadline for ticket applications was
extended by an hour to 1am yesterday after the
website failed to cope with the demand, it was
announced that there had been applications for 20
million tickets. With 6.6 million tickets
available, though, two questions remain: how many
of those 20 million were applications for the
same, most sought-after tickets and how many of
the 6.6 million are unsold?

However, the London 2012 organising committee
(Locog) trumpeted the news as a triumph. “We are
thrilled with the response right across the board,
in all sports and all sessions,” said Lord Coe,
the Locog chairman.

It was also announced that 50 per cent of the 650
sessions in the Games were over-subscribed and so
will require a ballot. More than 95 per cent of
the ticket applicants were from the UK.

The figures allay fears of low attendances at the
London Games. And given that such a small
percentage of tickets were taken up by the rest of
the European Union, where they were also
available, what is clear is that the Games will be
a very British affair.

As usual with statistics, though, it depends how
you read them. The fact that 50 per cent of the
sessions already have the “sold out” sign
hanging above them suggests also that tickets for
the other half of the 650 sessions still remain on
the market, which does not sound so good —
unless you were one of those who failed to
complete their purchase because of the problems
with the website.

Locog has yet to explain how the next phase of
ticket sales will operate. However, it seems clear
that it has already made significant progress
towards its goal of a complete sell-out and ticket
revenues of £500 million.

What happens next

Locog will now begin checking for duplicate
applications from different e-mail addresses at
the same postal address

On May 10 money will be taken from the accounts of
those who were successful in their ticket
applications. Anyone whose bank account does not
have sufficient funds will be given time to make
amends

Spectators will not find out which tickets they
have successfully purchased until the following
month. By June 24 everyone will know which tickets
they have bought Customers who were not successful
will be given further opportunity to apply for any
remaining tickets in June and July

Source - The Times(UK)

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