How much is an Olympic 2012 ticket worth to you?

By admin on August 10, 2012 • ( 0 )

Here is a quick question: How much is an London 2012 Olympic ticket worth to you? The scenario is that you’re a big athletics fan but can go if you pay a premium and I’m talking a large premium. Its a debate that we’ve been having in our household.

As per my previous article, I was overjoyed in hearing that the Olympic games would be coming to London. Sadly, I’ve not been able to attend a single event although I might try & stand on the sidewalk for this coming Sunday’s marathon. NB There was politics behind the decision to finish in front of Buck house. Hang on! I did also stand on the sidewalk whilst the Olympic torch ran past our road a couple of weeks back.

Stop being picky!
I have to admit that I was being a bit snobby about only wanting to see the Athletics in the stadium. On Sunday night I managed to get 2 tickets when I thought that a visiting family member had preloaded the eCommerce website quantity total with 3 – NB Its a panic situation when you’re buying tickets as the online timer countdown forces you to type & enter your credit card details at lightning speed. Albeit that its at least another 15 minute wait for the system to confirm your reservation. Are there really 2.5 million people trying to get tickets at the same time!? Hey! Either there is a ticket or not? If Facebook and YouTube are built on systems that are scalable, why is the Olympic website so slow? Anyway, missed again. Then for the next few days signing-up to the Twitterfeed resulted in no tickets. Missed again.

BBC Sports Editorial was a bit off
Sorry to say this but I believe that the BBC’s sports editorial was off again I watched the main events on the sidelines again from the comfort of my 40″ TV. The atmosphere looked amazing, albeit that BBC’s coverage again (apart from Michael Johnsons’s great commentary) was questionable. For example, the ‘Survival of the fittest’ was interesting and slightly non-PC piece before Bolt’s hyped 200m run.

Don’t believe the hype
Just for the record, the sports coverage has been outstanding from a filming, editing and summary perspective, but there have been no lessons learnt from the last commonwealth games. Stop patronizing others and focus on stories from more nations. For example, where countries with large populations only send a view competitors or the runner that has had to endure poverty and poor conditions to reach the gloss of the Olympics.

On that note, building hype around Bolt rather than talking about other athlete life stories and their countries is a continued fault of the editorial teams. Yes, we’re happy that GB are doing so well but: Hey! Isn’t the Olympics about the 5 rings coming together!? There wasn’t even any homage paid to those who lost their lives in Munich!? Today’s Twitter splash page is interesting suggesting that the Olympics are about dedication, sacrifice, guts and glory. Its all about the athletes at the end of the day.

But how much would you pay?
Back to the question, as I vent my issues! How much is a ticket worth? Well, if you’re a politician, royal or bureaucrat, you probably get a free ticket! Does that sound a little bit bitter. In someways yes, its from a moan perspective. NB Last night on TV I saw one of the Royal’s yawning (in a prime seat) and every morning in the newspaper I see a new Kate Middleton expression from from a event bleacher. Or, if we’re really lucky we see the prince and princess embracing each other as they enjoy each event – don’t get me started on the number of celebs who held the torch before each sponsored float zoomed through each town.

Market forces unfortunately dictate supply and demand, i.e: If you want it enough, be prepared to pay for it. Just like holiday prices that are hiked by tour operators during kids holidays. We have to remember that our taxes helped to pay for these games yet many of us have been left out in the cold and wasted hours at each online lottery ticket application.

One argument is that from a cost benefit perspective it could cost more to see an Olympic Rio event in 2016. A return on investment (ROI) argument suggests that you cannot put a price on a memory. However, I return to the point of integrity. I take a stand and maybe there are only a few of us that speak the truth. There is no doubt in my mind about the commercialisation of every sphere of our lives. Supplementary assistance for the cost helps but greed has taken over from ticket scams to individuals embroiled in corruption.

See you in Rio in 2016?
Maybe I’ll make it to Rio in 2016? We’ll see if I can get a ticket, who knows? More importantly, where will all be in 4 years time, we can only hope for the best.

Just like 2012, we’ll get carried away with this 4 yearly event and have to rely on luck and friendship (virtual and physical) to get a ticket.