London 2012 ticket prices unveiled 18/10/2010 |
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Ticket prices for the London 2012 Olympics will range from £20 in the cheapest seats to £2,012 for the most exclusive seat at the opening ceremony, it has been announced.
Some 6.6 million tickets will go on sale in March next year – three-quarters of the total – and organisers say a wide range of prices will allow all income brackets to attend the Games and still guarantee necessary revenue.
The most expensive ticket for a sports event is £725 for the final of the 100m – though fans will still be able to attend that same event for £50 – while a total of 2.5 million tickets for all events will be sold for £20 or less.
London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said: "We have three clear principles for our ticketing strategy: 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.''
For those events which are over-subscribed, tickets will be allocated via a lottery but organisers expect that for many events, fans will be able to secure tickets without having to go through a ballot.
London 2012 has also announced that 1.3 million tickets will be reserved at special prices for children and people over 60. Under the 'pay your age' scheme, 10-year-olds would pay £10, 11-year-olds £11 and so on. Those over 60 would pay £16.
Under schemes being run by the London mayor and the Government, 100,000 tickets will be given free to schoolchildren in the capital and across the country, paid for via a £25 levy on the 'prestige' tickets being sold via packages.
Coe added: "When we won the right to stage the Games, we made a promise to inspire young people to choose sport and our ticket prices will get as many young people as possible to the Games.''
Olympics minister Hugh Robertson said: "I am confident we will have packed stadiums and venues with the range of tickets on offer meaning that people of all ages and budgets will have the chance to attend London 2012.''
More than 1.7 million people have already signed up to London 2012's ticket information website which will guide them in the process of applying for tickets for the 26 sports, split into 649 separate sessions.
London mayor Boris Johnson is aiming for one in eight secondary schoolchildren in the capital being able to receive a free ticket for the Games.
Johnson added: "Having invested so much, I also want Londoners to have a real sense that these are their Games too. So it is right that, through the schemes aimed at youngsters, we can acknowledge their support by rewarding thousands of London kids with the unique opportunity to be part of this amazing sporting spectacle.''
However, the ticket price announcement was greeted with dismay by Greenwich council, one of the host boroughs for the Games, who said they had been campaigning for all children in the borough to receive a free ticket.
Chris Roberts, leader of Greenwich Council, said: "Olympic organisers have had five years to plan a ticket allocation which would permit the children of the host boroughs to attend the Games taking place on their own doorsteps. Instead, seven out of eight schoolchildren will be denied that chance.
"Repeatedly, the Olympic host boroughs have offered to buy tickets for their children but have been refused.
"[Organising committee] LOCOG don't want the authentic East End, they don't want our money, and they certainly don't want our kids.''
Ticket prices for the Paralympics will not be announced until next year.
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