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Ceremonies tickets generally go to either the people who buy the most expensive tours, or the executives of the sponsors of the IOC and national Olympic Committees. As late as the 1992 Olympics they were publicly available, but the explosion in sponsor dollars and super-luxe tours since then, along with the increasingly extravagant productions attracting more people, have pretty much taken them off of the public market.

It's just going to be a nearly impossible ticket when there are only 50,000 or so available for an event that millions of people want to atttend. You really have to think of them now as being like Super Bowl tickets (except even scarcer), and if you really want to attend you are probably going to have to pay top dollar on the secondary market. Me, I've seen the bloated spectacle, and I'll happily stick to the sports, which are the real point of the Olympics anyway.


On the other hand, the only things I see that seem to be completely unavailable in this ticket round are the 2 ceremonies and the Track Cycling. Anything else?

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Ceremonies tickets generally go to either the people who buy the most expensive tours, or the executives of the sponsors of the IOC and national Olympic Committees. As late as the 1992 Olympics they were publicly available, but the explosion in sponsor dollars and super-luxe tours since then, along with the increasingly extravagant productions attracting more people, have pretty much taken them off of the public market.

That is probably how it seems to someone wanting Ceremonies tickets to an Olympics that's outside of their country.

However, for the residents of the host country that simply isn't true. London held back 75% and Rio are holding back 70% of their total tickets for the public (residents). With regard to the highest demand events like the Ceremonies and the Men's 100m Final session, then yes, the % of seats available for the public are reduced to something like 40-50%.

And of course, any London tickets, made available through the official LOCOG site were also availabe across the whole of the EU.

I know someone who managed to buy 20 Opening Ceremony tickets in one go via the official site - LOCOG deliberately held back 1 million tickets from the original ballot. And a large tranche of Opening Ceremony tickets became available through May/June 2012.

If I was a Brazilian resident, and I was determined enough to get there, and knowing how the process worked for London, then I'd VERY confident of snagging an Opening Ceremony ticket for Rio.

It's just going to be a nearly impossible ticket when there are only 50,000 or so available for an event that millions of people want to atttend. You really have to think of them now as being like Super Bowl tickets (except even scarcer), and if you really want to attend you are probably going to have to pay top dollar on the secondary market. Me, I've seen the bloated spectacle, and I'll happily stick to the sports, which are the real point of the Olympics anyway.

From the perspective of a US-resident wanting to attend Rio, that may be true, unless you have contacts in Brazil, Europe or Asia who could help you.

On the other hand, the only things I see that seem to be completely unavailable in this ticket round are the 2 ceremonies and the Track Cycling. Anything else?

It's a shame that Cosport is your only option. No wonder the secondary market is so lucrative in the US.

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.I know someone who managed to buy 20 Opening Ceremony tickets in one go via the official site -

And I could sell you London Bridge. They were B/Sing you, volshy. No COJO would sell "20" tickets to OC in one fell swoop. Don't you think the COJO would know that selling one bloc of prime tix like that to ONE party would result in high-end scalping? It is the most prized ticket for any Olympics, so they make sure that those are distributed evenly and fairly. I'm sure that "someone" is a great huckster. Even tickets for the Dress Rehearsals are distributed as evenly and as fairly...as are the Ceremony tickets for the Paralympics.

Even CoSport, etc. get their Ceremony tickets from the country allocation -- so what other B/S has that someone sold you? ;)

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And I could sell you London Bridge. They were B/Sing you, volshy. No COJO would sell "20" tickets to OC in one fell swoop. Don't you think the COJO would know that selling one bloc of prime tix like that to ONE party would result in high-end scalping? It is the most prized ticket for any Olympics, so they make sure that those are distributed evenly and fairly. I'm sure that "someone" is a great huckster. Even tickets for the Dress Rehearsals are distributed as evenly and as fairly...as are the Ceremony tickets for the Paralympics.

Even CoSport, etc. get their Ceremony tickets from the country allocation -- so what other B/S has that someone sold you? ;)

I bought that many tickets for the 2012 OC quite close to the event. They were circa £50 each (can't remember but thereabouts), restricted view (which wasn't an issue at all).

There were a ton of empty seats at that ceremony too. Over 1,000. Unsold.

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And I could sell you London Bridge. They were B/Sing you, volshy. No COJO would sell "20" tickets to OC in one fell swoop. Don't you think the COJO would know that selling one bloc of prime tix like that to ONE party would result in high-end scalping? It is the most prized ticket for any Olympics, so they make sure that those are distributed evenly and fairly. I'm sure that "someone" is a great huckster. Even tickets for the Dress Rehearsals are distributed as evenly and as fairly...as are the Ceremony tickets for the Paralympics.

Even CoSport, etc. get their Ceremony tickets from the country allocation -- so what other B/S has that someone sold you? ;)

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Sorry Baron but you're quite mistaken.

20 tickets were indeed purchased by one person, all in one order from LOCOG. I know of up to 100 people who went to the OC through late sales a number who only paid £20.12.

No B/S as you so eloquently put it. Just the truth. Easily proven too.

For anyone on here who really want to get prime tickets, listen to Volshy and not someone who thinks they know everything but undoubtedly don't.

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20 tickets were indeed purchased by one person, all in one order from LOCOG. I know of up to 100 people who went to the OC through late sales a number who only paid £20.12.

Those GBP20.12 were specially set aside for indigents and students; and I guess LOCOG parsed those out differently. If indeed true on the 20 OC tix in one fell swoop, am surprised it didn't raise any red flags and no one charged LOCOG for being inequitable to those thousands who lost out in the OC ticket lottery.

Actually, with LOCOG, I shouldn't have been surprised considering they plagiarized quite a number of ideas for Ceremonies.

I bought that many tickets for the 2012 OC quite close to the event. They were circa £50 each (can't remember but thereabouts), restricted view (which wasn't an issue at all).

There were a ton of empty seats at that ceremony too. Over 1,000. Unsold.

Did you buy 20 in ONE fell swoop -- or in several attempts?

Edited by baron-pierreIV
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Those GBP20.12 were specially set aside for indigents and students; and I guess LOCOG parsed those out differently. If indeed true on the 20 OC tix in one fell swoop, am surprised it didn't raise any red flags and no one charged LOCOG for being inequitable to those thousands who lost out in the OC ticket lottery.

Actually, with LOCOG, I shouldn't have been surprised considering they plagiarized quite a number of ideas for Ceremonies.

Did you buy 20 in ONE fell swoop -- or in several attempts?

Well it is indeed true. All purchased in a LOCOG FCFS sale a month or so before the OC. This is quite separate from the pair I snagged in the same sale and the many others that did the same. All of those tickets were sold at Face Value, I know that as a fact.

These tickets were released once sight lines had been finalised. Some were behind the tree but the view was still superb. I wouldn't be surprised if the same happens in Rio. Locals should most definitely keep a look out.

Love the dig about the London ceremony. From reading other threads here, I would expect nothing less from you.

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It is the most prized ticket for any Olympics, so they make sure that those are distributed evenly and fairly.

As an attendee at seven of the last eight Summer Games, I think may be the most hilarious sentence I've ever read about the Olympics. Who is the "they," and how and why do they distribute prized tickets fairly and evenly? What makes them do it, and then who oversees and transparently and publicly audits their compliance? Hilarious!

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Who is the "they," and how and why do they distribute prized tickets fairly and evenly? What makes them do it, and then who oversees and transparently and publicly audits their compliance?

What kind of a stupid comment is that?? "They" would be the Organizing Committee, who else? :rolleyes:

If the distribution is done fairly, then there is NO NEED to do any audits. Duh.

"Distributed fairly and evenly," then why do they announce that over-subscribed events like the OCs go into a lottery? Why are there allocations based on previous demands? Unless of course, it's all a lie. Then the IOC is no better than FIFA.

Sorry, if I'm not on the same cynical barometer as you must be on. <_<

Edited by baron-pierreIV
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1. There is no way to tell how it is done without oversight.

2. In any event, the Organizing Committee distributes tickets to ATRs. a) no one knows how the allocations to each ATR are made; B) no one knows how ATRs (which get a 20% mark up on standalone tickets) are chosen; and c) the ATRs are not required to distribute tickets "evenly;" they are allowed to allocate tickets to be sold only with "packages," i.e., hotel rooms, that have been marked up sometimes by 1000%.

I am not cynical, this is how it works, as you can see from any ATR's own website.

[Oops. That snarky face is supposed to be a "b".]

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Ceremonies tickets generally go to either the people who buy the most expensive tours, or the executives of the sponsors of the IOC and national Olympic Committees. As late as the 1992 Olympics they were publicly available, but the explosion in sponsor dollars and super-luxe tours since then, along with the increasingly extravagant productions attracting more people, have pretty much taken them off of the public market.

For the avoidance of doubt, London 2012 Opening and Closing Ceremony tickets were available to the public at ALL price points, ranging from the gimmicky priced Category D £20.12 to the Category AA £2012, at 3 time periods between March 2011 and July 27 2012:

(1) during the initial 1st Round Ballot (March-April 2011) and then later ...

(2) on a first-come-first-served (FCFS) basis during from May 2012 as part of the large phased sale of 1 million contingency tickets and then periodically from ...

(3) June 2012 onwards, again on a FCFS basis on the official website.

Don't get me wrong, you had to be very very quick if you saw them available. But they WERE available.

The guy who bought 20 did so in the June and bought them as 5 separate purchases of blocks of 4 tickets - all within a few minutes. He simply checked out and went back in and repeated.

Some ZO and ZC tickets were also available from a small number of ATRs around Europe.

When I say the "public", I mean anyone resident in the EU. These weren't available to people living outside the EU.

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I did not mean to say tickets weren't available. And I defer to you, Volshy, in all things ticket-related. You are the master. . Although it has gotten MUCH harder over the years, it's possible to get tickets, and, with skill, to get tickets for most things you want. Which is why you are the master.

My point is just that the idea that tickets, especially to the best events, are fairly and equally distributed to the public is silly.

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The guy who bought 20 did so in the June and bought them as 5 separate purchases of blocks of 4 tickets - all within a few minutes. He simply checked out and went back in and repeated.

Oh, OK. That I understand. So LOCOG-Ticketing did not have safeguards to prevent such quick repeat buying (if from the same credit card). Well, maybe Rio and following COJOs will have safeguards to NOT make it that easy. That's my whole point. They (TICKETING for you, Viewer, since you were pretending to be obtuse...) should try to make it available to as many people as they can.

My point is just that the idea that tickets, especially to the best events, are fairly and equally distributed to the public is silly.

Of course, in an ideal world, it would be. But if people don't try again after first refusals, then indeed the allocation becomes selective and NOT widespread. I UNDERSTAND the difference between "ideal" and "real." But I am dealing from the "ideal" POV since I believe in the OG's altruism. If one were to deal from the "real" POV, then why should the average fan (or 1-time ticket-buyer) even bother to try and get any premium ticket at all.

Sorry that NOT all of us are as well-connected in going to the Games as you. Bully for you!! :P

Edited by baron-pierreIV
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And I could sell you London Bridge. They were B/Sing you, volshy. No COJO would sell "20" tickets to OC in one fell swoop. Don't you think the COJO would know that selling one bloc of prime tix like that to ONE party would result in high-end scalping? It is the most prized ticket for any Olympics, so they make sure that those are distributed evenly and fairly. I'm sure that "someone" is a great huckster. Even tickets for the Dress Rehearsals are distributed as evenly and as fairly...as are the Ceremony tickets for the Paralympics.

Even CoSport, etc. get their Ceremony tickets from the country allocation -- so what other B/S has that someone sold you? ;)

No bullsh*t Senor Garcia. Blame Ticketmaster if you want, they ran the ticketing site for LOCOG . For the avoidance of doubt, the tickets, £150 Category C were bought as 5 separate purchases of blocks of 4 tickets, all within a few minutes.

And the guy wasn't a scalper/hustler/huckster at all. All the tickets were used at their face (original) value of £150.

Those GBP20.12 were specially set aside for indigents and students; and I guess LOCOG parsed those out differently.

Again, not true. Where do you get this false information from?

The £20.12 tickets for the Opening Ceremony were available to the public in (1) the 1st Round Ballot (lottery) as well as (2) the later First-Come-First-Served web-sales on the official London2012.com website in May 2012 and then from June 2012 onwards.

I repeat - anyone living in Brazil and who is determined enough to be at the Rio Opening Ceremony, should, if they put the time and effort in, be able to buy one from the official ROCOG ticketing site without have to resort to the secondary market (scalpers etc).

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ATRs - Around The Rings?

Pls explain.

You really are special aren't you Myles?

You see a post from me and just go off the deep-end, as you do.

You talk as if you know what the ticketing arrangements were for London, and yet you don't know what ATR stands for?? Unbelieveable.

AUTHORISED TICKET RESELLER.

ATRs are appointed by the IOC, usually after some bidding process to sell tickets outside of the host country. So the ATR for the USA is Cosport. Cosport have also been appointed as the ATR for the UK. There' are ATRs for every country - they are allowed to sell tickets with a maximum 20% markup on the original value/

All the information is on the Ticketing Guide on the Rio2016.com website.

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Again, not true. Where do you get this false information from?

Those were in the initial press releases. And it only made sense. Not everyone can afford the higher-priced tickets and I THOUGHT they were going for more inclusivity -- i.e., making sure that all economic sectors of society would have a fair chance to see the show -- rather than 'exclusivity.' (This is how they did it in Sydney.)

But dumb me for believing that this is a fairer world. Again, not all of us operate under such cynical conditions. Thanks for waking us up to that.

You really are special aren't you Myles?

You see a post from me and just go off the deep-end, as you do.

You talk as if you know what the ticketing arrangements were for London, and yet you don't know what ATR stands for?? Unbelieveable.

AUTHORISED TICKET RESELLER.

ATRs are appointed by the IOC, usually after some bidding process to sell tickets outside of the host country. So the ATR for the USA is Cosport. Cosport have also been appointed as the ATR for the UK. There' are ATRs for every country - they are allowed to sell tickets with a maximum 20% markup on the original value/

All the information is on the Ticketing Guide on the Rio2016.com website.

Oh, wow. EXCUSE me for living. I DON'T deal in the world of re-selling as you do.

Enjoy your world. Volshy. I don't have to put up with your snotty tone. Bye.

Edited by baron-pierreIV
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I did not mean to say tickets weren't available. And I defer to you, Volshy, in all things ticket-related. You are the master. . Although it has gotten MUCH harder over the years, it's possible to get tickets, and, with skill, to get tickets for most things you want. Which is why you are the master.

My point is just that the idea that tickets, especially to the best events, are fairly and equally distributed to the public is silly.

trust me, I'm not the "master" - I just pass on information, that's all :-) But that's very kind of you to say :-) Really, there's many others who are much more skilled than me at actually buying the tickets!

From asking previous Olympic Games attendees (pre London), they would agree that it has got harder, simply cos technology (the internet) has allowed greater access - a more even playing field if you like. The process has become more "democratic" for want of a better description.

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This discussion about buying OC tickets at London 2012 isn't relevant to buying Rio tickets at all IMO, so its off topic.

London 2012 ticketing was a widely reported chaotic mess caused by TicketMaster and the way the organising underfunded the infrastructure behind the ticket sales. That led to all sorts of panic sales for all sorts of events by the London organising committee in a desperate attempt to stop empty seats (remember all the bad press about empty seats?).

For Rio the local organising committee ticketing so far has been better organised. They seem to have a better IT infrastructure.

Every games is different when it comes to ticketing. How to get OC tickets for Rio we won't know until after the event.

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