The registration period to enter a lottery for the right to buy tickets for the 2028 Summer Olympics officially began Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. Pacific Time as hopefuls looking to grab seats to events at the Los Angeles Games now leave their chances up to the ballot system.
And within minutes of the start of the lottery there were already signs that a long wait was ahead as the registration page flashed a message that said “Demand is high so please hang tight. You’ll be automatically redirected to register when it’s your turn.”
A progress bar below the message moved slowly, a clear indication that anticipation had built since organizers announced in December that “at least a million” tickets would be priced at $28 while around one third would be about $100. It was not clear if all events would get the same pricing or if higher demand sports like basketball, track and field, gymnastics and swimming would receive a different rate.
But by 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time there appeared to be issues on the website and numerous users on social media said that even after waiting and starting the first steps of registration, they were returned back to the queue to start waiting again.
It took around 29 minutes in the initial queue and 47 minutes for a second try as soon as the website allowed submissions.
But once registered, the signup process took less five minutes.
Meanwhile, organizers looked to avoid any potential backlash of high ticket prices after FIFA was heavily criticized in December for what was considered as excessive pricing when the lowest World Cup tickets were $4,185 during its third round of sales.
FIFA quickly pivoted and said $60 tickets will be available for every World Cup match in North America and allocated to the federations whose teams are playing. The tickets would be made available to the most loyal fans of those teams.
For the Olympics, organizers are hoping for a more seamless approach and those who enter the ballot should not feel pressure to register on the first day.
“No matter when you go in, whether you’re the first person in or the last person in, you have the same opportunity,” LA28 senior vice president of Games delivery revenue Allison Katz-Mayfield said in December.
The ticket registration period will continue until March 18 and lottery winners will be notified via email shortly after as actual sales will start as soon as April 2 for select groups.
There will be a pre-sale for people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties from April 2-6 in addition to certain Oklahoma residents where some Olympic competitions will taking place. Then the first round of general ticket sales will begin on April 9 with the chance to buy tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Each person who registers and is selected can only buy a maximum of 12 tickets.
Tickets for the 2028 Paralympics will go on sale in 2027.
