A dark cloud appears to be hanging over a particular sporting event before coach holidays to the event have even begun especially since the recent ticket fiasco. With many of us trying to get our hands on these elusive tickets, news that The Government has bought 9,000 of them (including 3,000 for civil servants and others involved in the event) will be as welcome as a lead balloon!
Almost 250,000 people will not be seeing any of the most sought-after events while thousands of others have received only a fraction of the seats that they originally applied for. To add insult to injury, it would appear that sporting stars such as Tom Daley and Bradley Wiggins have also been let down by the ticket ballot as they failed to secure any for their family or friends. Even London Mayor, Boris Johnson, is extremely ticked off as he was also unable to secure tickets for his nearest & dearest.
Out of all those people who applied, those that have been successful and had money debited from their bank accounts, still do not know which events they will be seeing! Consumer group Which? has said that applying for these tickets is just like going into a supermarket and paying in advance for your shopping and then hoping it ends up in your basket when you leave!
There is a little ray of hope for those left disappointed by this ticket fiasco, they will be entered into another draw where they will have priority on a first-come-first-served basis for the sale of unsold tickets for particular sporting events such as football, hockey, volleyball etc. This draw will take place at the end of this month, so it would be wise to keep those eyes peeled again.
Although many of us were unsuccessful in our application for tickets, there are a tiny fortunate few that have hit the jackpot. One person was able to secure four tickets to see the Men’s 100m Final whilst another applied for tickets totalling £36,000 and managed to secure £11,000 worth – which he is keeping after pleading with his wife to increase their credit card limit!
Here are a few little known facts…
• An estimated 250,000 people who applied for tickets did not get a single seat
• There were 6.6 million tickets up for grabs but over 20 million ticket bids were received from 1.8 million applicants
• There were 1 million seat bids for the Men’s 100m Final – the stadium only holds 40,000 people
• Applicants could buy four tickets apiece for a maximum of 20 different events. If they managed to secure the top price tickets for their whole allocation, at the most expensive events (including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies) – their total bill would be £47,548 – let’s hope whoever this is has enough funds!
Were any of you successful in your ticket application? What events will you attend? We’d love to hear from you!