Military drafted in to fill empty seats at London Olympics

msnbc.com ^ | July 29, 2012 | Ian Johnston, NBC News

[John W]

LONDON - Britain was forced to bring in military personnel at short notice to provide security for the London Olympics -- and has now done the same to help fill thousands of empty seats at several venues despite the massive public demand for tickets.

Many ordinary people who applied for tickets -- in what was essentially a lottery – missed out and there were numerous complaints about the allocation process.

But the first day saw rows of empty seats at events including swimming, dressage, tennis, gymnastics and volleyball -- according to reports in The Guardian and Telegraph newspapers -- to the outrage of many, including U.K. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

London 2012 organizers LOCOG said it was looking into the issue, saying it appeared many of the empty seats were in "accredited seating areas," which are reserved for members of the "Olympic family," such as officials, athletes, their family and friends, journalists, and some corporate sponsors.

[John W]

Sorry, should be NBCNEWS.com now.

[ontap]

Most tickets were purchased by corporations who evidently did not use them! The Olympics like most other sports are all about the money. I have only a fraction of the interest I use to have in the pros since the introduction of the free agent rule.

[Old Retired Army Guy]

Sounds like London may take a Financial Bath on these games unless the TV Revenue more than covers their expenses.

[TomGuy]

I noticed at some of the early soccer games and online venues that nearly half of the seating was unoccupied.

I thought that strange and could not recall massive numbers of empty seats at previous Olympics.

[fso301]

Are we sure the government didn’t buy every ticket to guarantee a sellout and then arrange for the olympic ticket office to place the government’s tickets for sale?

[DAC21]

If the tickets were sold, but folks choose not to show up I don't see much of a financial lose other than reduced concessions. Of course if the problem is disinterest than that will probably carry over to television viewing as well. With NBC at the helm in the States, you can count on it.

If I was on the London organizing committee I'd have a standby queue at every event. 10 after they raise the curtain if sold seats don't have a rump in them, let the standby crowd in for 20 Pounds a pop. At that point Gate Security cuts off any late ticket holders that show up.

[DAC21]

“10 min.”

[bmwcyle]

It is hard to afford to fly to there when the World Economy is falling.

[onedoug]

Romney was right.

[wrench]

Accredited seating is part of the landscape at all the venues. It is a place that just about anyone with olympic credentials can go and watch the events. This allows other competitors, judges, Int’l Olympic Committee ansd London Olympic Committee members a place to sit and watch the events.

I worked a venue at the Atlanta Games, and same deal there. Though my creds allowed me to watch hundreds of events, I ended up only seeing maybe 3 hours of competition during the entire 12 day period, was way too busy working to sit and watch. I even had tickets offered to the opening and closing ceremonies, but had too much to do.

Folks using these seating areas do not use them for the whole day, they come to see one performance, and may only use the seats for 20 minutes or so.

As the games wear on, expect these seating areas to be more and more vacant unless there is a well hyped contest taking place.

[snarkytart]

I agree it’s more to do with lack of interest in the UK to attend.

[snarkytart]

I agree it’s more to do with lack of interest in the UK to attend.

[snarkytart]

Coe, who said 75 percent of tickets went to the public, said he did not expect the situation to continue.
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UK trying to blame corporations and family members who didn’t show? Please, this has never been an issue any other Olympic games.

Piss poor planning...period. Whether it’s lack of interest or bad transportation.

[Don Corleone]

Let’s see. This was all Thatcher’s fault, Bush’s fault, Obama’s fault or Romney’s fault. Maybe it was San Andreas fault. Hmmmm?

[backwoods-engineer]

Gee, you think the nation that trumpets the National Health Service as part of their opening ceremonies can actually allocate seats at the Olympic games fairly?

That would be a negative.

[Winniesboy]

I agree it’s more to do with lack of interest in the UK to attend.

Nonsense. Ever since the public sale tranches began many months ago, the demand for tickets here has grossly exceeded the supply.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Sounds like the London Olympics are one massive screw-up, but anybody who publicly acknowledges it must be ridiculed.

It's the Alinsky way.

[chainsaw]

Military drafted in to fill empty seats at London Olympics.

This will not help the bottom line and the government will have to subsidize the enormous expense to put yhe games on.

[driftless2]

My wife and I are wondering why they’re holding football games in Glasgow when there’s pleny of decent stadiums in and around London? I would think games held in Wembley or other local stadiums would certainly draw larger crowds than those held 400 miles away.