When I got selected for a timeslot during the first drop for LA28 Olympic tickets, I was so excited. I had my entire Olympics planned out, with all my first- and second-choice events for each day. Then, when I logged in during my timeslot, there were hardly any tickets available. Just a handful of sports with the only remaining tickets either at the top end of or out of my price range. So, I ended up not getting anything.
For the second ticket drop, I thought I had it even better. I got picked for the Visa Presale, which meant I'd have a better selection of sports and, hopefully, less expensive tickets. Unfortunately, the timing of the Visa Presale wasn't great. The window opened while I was on my way to Chicago, so I wasn't able to login until I got to my hotel a few hours later. By then, most of the marquee sports or cheaper seats were already gone.
It wasn't a completely fruitless endeavor. The new stadium for NYCFC is one of the preliminary round soccer locations, and I was able to snag tickets for a men's doubleheader the day before the Opening Ceremony. As for events actually in LA, though, it was once again a shutout. The only sports with any availability at all were lesser-known sports like handball and archery, which I wouldn't mind seeing. But, I also didn't want to pull the trigger in case a session of track & field or beach volleyball opened up at the same time. So, I decided to wait. I guess I'll find out if that was a good idea.
ESPN's Holly Rowe was able to get track & field tickets during the presale, and she went public with the frustration of her ticket-buying experience. Mainly that the advertised price isn't the actual price. They add a 24 percent service fee, as well as taxes. So, the more expensive the ticket, the higher the service fee. That was Rowe's biggest point of contention. She paid $3,000 just for the tickets. Then, the service fee and taxes brought the price over $4,000. She has the money. That wasn't the point. The hidden fees were.
Social media being social media, trolls were, of course, quick to post their replies to Rowe's post. And, of course, there were those who were like "rich people problems" or "so don't go." Responses like that aren't just ignorant. They completely miss the point. Because Holly Rowe brought up something that was already a frustration of LA28 ticket buyers and will continue to be for the next two years until the Games themselves actually take place.
Throughout the first two phases of LA28 ticket sales, those were the two most common points of contention. Even people who had timeslots earlier than me during Drop 1 noticed that there were slim pickings, both in number of affordable tickets and selection of sports. The second is the sticker shock of the prices (and that's before the service fee and tax), which are by far the most expensive Olympic tickets in history and more than double what they were for Paris in some events. People expected the once-in-a-lifetime experience of going to the Olympics to be costly. What most people didn't anticipate, however, was exactly how costly.
We obviously just experienced this with the World Cup. It wasn't exactly easy to get tickets in the first place. Then the prices made them even more exclusive. (And that's before you throw in the cost of transportation to the games.) Yet, despite this, the demand was high and people were more than willing to pay those exorbitant prices. The World Cup shattered the attendance record. Which seems obvious since there were 40 more games in this World Cup than any previous edition, but every game was either a sellout or pretty close, so the ticket cost couldn't have been too big of a deterrent.
I'd expect the exact same thing will happen with the LA Olympics. They sold four million tickets during Phase 1 in April and got 12 million ticket applications for Phase 2. And we're still two years away from the Games! By the time LA28 actually rolls around, it's a safe bet that the stadiums and arenas will be packed, even with the frustrations fans are experiencing during these early stages of ticket sales. And, as the 12 million applications from all around the world indicate, there's clearly demand. So, people will end up paying whatever amount just to be there. Just as they did for the World Cup.
There's an important thing to note here, too. The LA28 organizing committee is an entirely private entity that will go out of business in 2029. They're not getting any funding from the government or USOPC. As a for-profit corporation, they need to finish in the black. And ticket sales will be their greatest source of revenue. So, from a business perspective, it makes sense to set the ticket prices high enough to guarantee they'll turn a profit. And it's definitely a difficult balancing act to figure out what exactly the right price range is so that there are affordable options, but they also make money from ticket sales.
And, to LA28's credit, roughly half of all Olympic tickets will be $200 or less. They specifically made it a point to say that there would be tickets available for just $28 to every sport and different sessions. So, they're making good on their promise to have affordable tickets. Most of the tickets outside that $200 range are for the more popular sports, finals and/or the best seats. So, it makes sense that they'll cost more. The vast difference in price and the fact that those are the only tickets available for so many people once their turn finally comes is the frustrating part.
Prior to Phase 1 sales, there was a presale for LA residents. Those locals gobbled up most, if not all, of the lowest-cost tickets. And who can blame them! However, because the most affordable and most sought-after tickets were already taken, there was already a lack of inventory when the public onsale actually began. And that scarce inventory only grew smaller until certain events were completely sold out of all the tickets that were made available before some people even had their timeslot open up.
To be clear, I have absolutely no problem with the fact that they did a local presale for LA28. They should've done one. Frankly, that's what they should've done for the World Cup, too. Not necessarily for those in the host cities, but there should've at the very least, been one for the three host countries instead of the entire world all at once each time. But I digress. Point is, if they were gonna have a local presale before the first phase, they should've reset the inventory instead of only leaving whatever was left for everybody else.
That's been the most frustrating part of the LA28 ticket-buying experience so far. The prices are only the half of it. It's the general lack of availability across the board that's just as annoying. They keep promising that new inventory will be added in each future drop, but nobody knows how much new inventory there actually is and whether those tickets will actually be affordable. So, you can either be like me and hold out hope that you'll be selected again for a future drop AND the sports you want will be available/affordable OR you could load up your maximum 12 tickets to sports and events you may not necessarily want to see just so that you can say you went to the Olympics.
The LA28 Olympics are still two years away. The fact that some people already have their tickets and can begin planning their trip is incredible. But, there's also no denying that the ticket-buying process has been difficult and frustrating for many. Fortunately, there's plenty of time for that experience to improve and those who want to be in LA for the 2028 Olympics will get that opportunity. An opportunity to do something they'll never forget!
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