London 2012 Olympic Games ticket prices revealed
This article titled “London 2012 Olympic Games ticket prices revealed” was written by Mark Tran and Sam Jones, for The Guardian on Friday 15th October 2010 16.53 UTC
The ticket prices for the London 2012 Olympic Games, which run from £20.12 to £2,012 for the opening ceremony, have been revealed.
Tickets for the sporting events will start at £20 and go up to £725 for the showpiece men’s 100m athletics final.
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (Locog) said a total of 8.8m tickets would be available for the games, of which 75% would go on sale to the public from next March.
The prices of 2m tickets for the Paralympics will be announced at a later date.
Locog said 90% of the public tickets would be priced at £100 or less, 66% at £50 or less, while 2.5m tickets would be priced at £20 or less.
Unveiling what he termed “the daddy of all ticket strategies”, the London 2012 chairman, Lord Coe, said every effort had been made to ensure the tickets were available to as many people as possible.
“We have three clear principles for our ticketing strategy,” he said. “Tickets need to be affordable and accessible to as many people as possible. Tickets are an important revenue stream for us to fund the games and our ticketing plans have the clear aim of filling our venues to the rafters.”
About 1.3m tickets will be provided under a “pay your age” promotion for young and old spectators. Anyone who is 16 or under at the start of the games, on 27 July 2012, will pay their age in pounds. If they are 60 or older by the same date they pay a flat £16.
There will also be a ticketshare scheme in which thousands of schoolchildren will get tickets. The London mayor, Boris Johnson, announced yesterday that more than 120,000 free tickets would be made available to London’s schoolchildren so that one in eight of them would have the chance to see the Olympic and Paralympic games.
However, the ticketing strategy has been criticised by some.
Dee Doocey, the Liberal Democrat London assembly Olympics spokeswoman, accused the organisers of breaking their promise to deliver an inclusive and “highly affordable” games.
“We now discover that of the 8.8m tickets available, just 2.5m – less than 30% – will cost £20 or less. Of these 1.3m will be reserved for the excellent pay your age and London 2012 ticketshare schemes, leaving just 1.2m £20 tickets available for sale to Londoners, the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,” she said.
“And how many of these will be earmarked for the 30-plus football matches held during the games, and how many will be for the 100m final? As always the devil is in the detail.”
The City and East London assembly member John Biggs, who represents two of the five Olympic boroughs, said he feared many ordinary people would find the games beyond their economic reach.
“The Olympic bid was won on the basis it would be affordable and inclusive but these prices mean that many ordinary people, especially families, will be priced out completely,” he said. “Ironically it’s those that have had to put up with the most disruption in some of the most deprived parts of London who will now struggle to afford to go and see the games.”
Prized tickets for the 100m final will come in at five levels, ranging from £50 up to £725 – the highest for any of the 2012 Olympic sports – which will secure a spot along the 100m straight.
Tickets for the football, taking place at a range of venues including the City of Coventry stadium, Hampden Park, the Millennium stadium, Old Trafford, St James Park and Wembley, will start at £20 for the preliminaries.
Fans will have to pay between £20 and £125 for the semi-finals, rising to £40-£185 for the men’s final and £30-£125 for the women’s final, with both games taking place at Wembley.
Ticket prices
• Opening ceremony at the Olympic stadium
Tickets priced at £20.12, £150, £995, £1,600 and £2,012
• Closing ceremony at the Olympic stadium
Tickets priced at £20.12, £150, £665, £995 and £1,500
• Football matches at Wembley
Men’s/Women’s preliminary: £20, £30, £45 and £60
Men’s quarter-final: £20, £30, £45 and £60
Men’s semi-final: £30, £45, £75 and £125
Women’s semi-final: £20, £30, £45 and £60
Men’s final: £40, £65, £95, £125 and £185
Women’s final: £30, £45, £65, £95 and £125
• Athletics at the Olympic stadium
Men’s/Women’s preliminary: £20, £40, £65, £95, £150
Men’s/Women’s final: £50, £95, £150, £295 and £450
Men’s/Women’s superfinal: £50, £125, £295, £420 and £725
• Track Cycling at the Velodrome
Men’s/Women’s preliminary: £20, £40, £65, £95 and £150
Men’s/Women’s final: £50, £95, £150, £225 and £325
• Rowing at Eton Dorney
Men’s/Women’s preliminary: £20, £40, £50, £65 and £95
Men’s/Women’s final: £30, £50, £70, £95 and £150
• Tickets go on sale in March 2011, but prospective purchasers can register their interest before then at www.tickets.london2012.com
Prices begin at £20 and there are special rates at more than 200 events for young people and those over 60. People aged 16 or under on 27 July 2012 will be their age in pounds for a ticket. Those who are 60 and over on 27 July 2012 will pay a flat fee of £16.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010
Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.