LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover responded on Wednesday to criticism about soaring Olympics ticket costs, a lack of availability of a promised allotment of $28 tickets and unexpectedly high 24 percent service fee for tickets.
Los Angeles residents received a local-only ticket pre-sale last week after a January ballot selected who would win the chance to gain access to the 2028 Games. But once sales opened, complaints about price for high demand events were widespread with some noting how quickly the lowest priced tickets sold out.
“These are the biggest games in Olympic history. And so in order for us to be able to deliver a fiscally responsible, as well as a safe and secure Games, our ticket prices start at $28 and offer a range of pricing for everybody,” Hoover said. “You may get on the website and you’re not gonna necessarily find the ticket at your price in this drop. There’ll be more drops coming.”
Thursday marks the global general sale of tickets with more than 5 million people from 197 countries and territories previously registering for the purchase ballot. Those winners found out last week if they were chosen and then assigned designated time lots to make their ticket selections and will be allowed to buy up to 12 tickets.
In the first day of ballot registration on January 15, more than 1.5 million people signed up through the ticketing portal, in a process that was marked with long wait times and some website errors that prevented information from being processed.
The registration period ended on March 18 and no priority was placed on when a person completed their submission.
Meanwhile, the general sale period is likely to field some of the same concerns that plagued the pre-sale almost immediately when those tickets were made available.
But while Hoover did not specify how many additional $28 tickets would be made available on Thursday or the next round of sales, he defended the pricing method while many people during the pre-sale period felt priced out.
“The average ticket price is under $200,” Hoover said. “That’s an accessible ticket.”
Still, that could do little to assure buyers especially when organizers said in December that at least 1 million tickets would be $28.
“If you’re not seeing the tickets to the session or category you wanted, that means there are no more in this particular ticket drop,” organizers said in a post on social media on Sunday. “Additional sessions or categories may be added to future ticket drops based on inventory availability. Keep an eye out for the next Olympic ticket draw, which will be announced and take place later this year, for a chance to be randomly selected to participate in a future ticket drop.”
A significant number of tickets during the pre-sale were more than $100 and topped $5,000 with track and field, basketball and swimming commanding particularly higher prices for preliminary rounds.
And for those who were able to grab their preferred ticket selection, a 24 percent service fee was applied to each transition, which came as a surprise especially when the total cost of 12 allowed tickets could wind up in the thousands with add-ons and taxes.
LA28 officials have already said that a resale market would be unveiled next year and Hoover also alluded to a demand pricing option, which could sent prices soaring for some events.
“We’re not using dynamic pricing in this round of ticket drops. We may adjust it in the future,” Hoover said.
