Getting Ticket Not Olympian Feat But Don’t Hold Your Breath Waiting To See The Gymnastics Finals
To buy tickets to the Atlanta Olympics, the line forms to the rear of the crowd of VIPs already placing orders.
While Olympic organizers make the final preparations to put tickets on sale to the public May 1, they also are busy handling requests from the sponsors, hotels, sports officials and selected tour groups that get first dibs.
Though these groups may snap up nearly 4 million of the choicest seats, organizers insist regular folks shouldn’t worry - there still will be a record number of tickets available.
And with the Atlanta organizers counting on strong ticket sales to meet the budget of the privately financed 1996 Summer Games, an all-out effort to sell those tickets is guaranteed.
“Nothing ever sells itself. What you need to do in any marketing program where you have a high-demand product is let the people know how easy it is to purchase,” said Scott Anderson, the top ticket official at the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.
“The general perception is, tickets to the Olympics are difficult to get,” said Anderson, ACOG’s managing director for Games services. “That is the perception we are fighting… . Our answer is, tickets are not going to be difficult to get.”
But it clearly will be more difficult to attend the glamour events - opening ceremonies or gymnastics finals, for example - because demand is expected to be tremendous.
ACOG is now ironing out the last details of putting about 7 million tickets on sale to the public.
A ticket vendor has been selected and will be announced later this month. A brochure has been designed, though decisions on how many to print and how to distribute it still must be made.
In an attempt to ensure fairness, tickets ordered in the first 60 days of the public sale will be thrown into a pool, from which they will be processed in random order. After that, it’s first come, first served.
Though the tickets go on sale more than a year before the Games, they must be paid for in advance. Visa, checks and money orders will be accepted.
In the fall, applicants will receive a letter notifying them what they’re getting. The tickets will be delivered in spring 1996. The Games begin July 19, 1996.
Before all that, Olympic organizers must finish handling orders from those who get to buy tickets before the public sale.
They include 194 national Olympic committees, the groups that send teams to the Games; corporate sponsors who have paid millions of dollars to finance the Games; hotels that have joined an Olympic network and will be able to resell the tickets with room packages; Atlanta Braves season-ticket holders; Olympic product licensees; and the American Bus Association, which will be reselling the tickets in tour packages.
Olympic officials emphasize that these groups get no discounts and no freebies. They also must make their purchases under various formulas that require buyers to accept a combination of high- and low-demand events, said ACOG spokeswoman Laurie Olsen.
These combinations will ensure that some tickets to each event still remain when the public sale begins, she said. No such ratios are required for the public. xxxx GET YOUR TICKET A look at tickets for the Atlanta Olympics: Sale to public begins May 1. Mail order only for first 60 days, then telephone orders also will be accepted. The mail order address or phone number has not been released yet. Tickets must be paid for in advance. Buyers will be notified in fall 1995 which tickets they are receiving. Tickets will be delivered in spring 1996. Prices range from $6 for baseball prelims to $600 for the opening or closing ceremonies. There are 560 sessions in the 1996 Olympics.