Opinion
Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor
I agree, cause them $500.00 – $2,000.00 tickets (opening and Closing Games and good sports venues) are needed by us who can’t afford them, though our tax dollars paid for the games.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=93fefc35-2f41-412c-9d26-a0ef47adbb12
(Photo Inset) Despite many empty seats at competitions, Chinese and foreign visitors have eagerly sought seats to the big contests and have often turned to “yellow bulls” or scalpers. REUTERS/David Gray
Plan to sell more 2010 tickets to public gets chilly reception from IOC
Jeff Lee Vancouver Sun
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The International Olympic Committee has poured cold water on a plan by organizers of the Vancouver Games to cut back on reserved media seating in 2010 in order to sell more tickets to the public.
Kevan Gosper, head of the IOC’s press commission, said Saturday he was surprised to hear about the plan, which Vanoc executive vice-president David Cobb revealed to the Vancouver Sun last week.
“I would have thought that was something that Vanoc should have discussed with us first before talking about it in public,” Gosper said.
“I can tell you that this idea is something I am not particularly in favour of, but we haven’t had any discussions about it yet.”
Cobb restated his intentions at a closing press conference on Friday, when Vanoc officials talked about lessons they learned while in Beijing.
He said Vanoc was looking at scaling back the size of press tribunes, as well as reserved seating for IOC officials, in order to sell more tickets to the public and create more of a fan atmosphere.
He was critical of the fact that some of the best seats in the house are held for media, but often go unused.
Tags: Canada | British Columbia | Vancouver | Olympics | tickets | 2010 | Whistler | public | opinion | World | TAXPAYERS | reception | scalpers | IOC