Public Clamoring For 2010 Tickets
15/11/2008 01:07
VANCOUVER - Demand for 2010 Olympic tickets has so exceeded expectations that three planned phases of requests likely won't be held, organizers said Thursday.
By the time the first five-week request period ended on Nov. 7, Canadians had asked for $345 million worth of tickets to the Vancouver Games, eclipsing the value set by the last Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
"It's a stunning reaction, far greater than anything we have ever seen or anticipated through Olympic history," John Furlong, CEO of the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee, told the Vancouver Board of Trade.
The organizing committee is now working on the lottery system that will be used to allocate tickets for 120 of the 170 sessions at the Games.
Hopeful fans will know by Dec. 5 whether they've been lucky enough to get highly coveted seats, but everyone who submitted a request will be able to queue up later in the month to buy any leftover tickets.
More from Canadian Press.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
This is one sports fan who isn’t clamoring for tickets. In fact, if they were playing those Olympic Games in my back yard, I’d close the blinds.