London 2012 ‘missed opportunity’ to make Games more Affordable

A new report has criticised the high cost of tickets for the London 2012 Olympic Games and said the organisers missed the chance to engage more of the general public.

The average price to see Mo Farah win gold during the 5,000 metres was £333 ($508) and the average price across all athletics finals were £231.88 ($353.98).

The cheapest tickets sold for £50 ($76) and the London Assembly’s Economy Committee believed there are lessons to be learned.

A report called The Price of Gold said that the organising committee exceeded its ticket revenue target by 32%, raising £657m ($1.1bn).

The report did praise the ‘hugely successful’ Games but did say that although London 2012 spread tickets evenly across the five price categories, the amounts ‘varied between sessions and, for a large number, were skewed towards the high end.’

Andrew Dismore, chair of the Committee said: “The 2012 Games were a fantastic spectacle and London should be proud of staging a hugely successful Olympics and Paralympic Games.

“However, for many ordinary people the lack of available affordable tickets for certain sessions meant there was little chance of them being in the crowd to see their sporting heroes win gold.

“Given that ticket sales massively exceeded their target, this was a missed opportunity to reward those taxpayers who funded the Games and inspire a generation to participate in sport.”

The report recommended future major sporting events should allocate a minimum proportion of tickets for each session, along with an overall target for the entire competition.

Organisers defend pricing

LOCOG Chairman Lord Coe has however defended the pricing and said he ‘would not have done anything differently’ in the organisation of London 2012.

Coe said: “My job was to raise revenue, 25% of all the tickets were sold outside from the British public, but 75% were, exactly as we said,” explained Lord Coe.

“Nine million people applying for 2.7m tickets, there was not going to be a happy outcome for all.

“Did we fulfil our promises. Yes. Did it stand fair with other comparable events. Yes. I would not have done anything differently.”

“It’s ground-hog day, we’ve been here before. I wish they (London Assembly) would spend more time concentrating on their legacy in their own boroughs.”

Around 60% of spectators watching the men’s 100m final paid more than £294 ($449) and the average cost of seeing Tom Daley secure bronze in the 10 metre platform dive was £203 ($310).

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