Amended on 1st September 2011 following further clarification received from LOCOG
The Commission has reviewed LOCOG’s ticketing policy for the 2012 Olympic Games to assure the fairness of the allocation process and plans for the final allocation in 2012.
While the first round of tickets was oversubscribed, the Commission has reviewed the question of whether the ticket allocation process could have distributed tickets to a greater number of applicants.
We have not been provided with the detailed allocation process but we have been given access to the outcomes of the round one ticketing phase. We believe that the ticket allocation process has been fair, delivering between 4-5 tickets to successful applicants. However, we recognise that the level of demand for tickets means that many applicants will be disappointed. To provide as many people as possible with a Games experience there may be ways to deliver tickets in the final round to a greater proportion of applicants than in the first round (reducing the average number of tickets per successful applicant to between 2-4).
We have been impressed with LOCOG’s commitment to provide a range of affordable ticketing options and to providing accessible tickets to disabled people.
We have also reviewed the ticketing structure for the Paralympics and we are pleased to see a robust policy for ensuring affordable ticketing options. We look forward to seeing the release of Paralympic tickets in the near future.
We understand LOCOG is working to revise its ticketing process to give priority in the second round ticket allocation to those applicants who were not successful in the first round. We welcome this undertaking and we look forward to seeing further detail.
Detailed information
In round one, prospective spectators were asked to register their interest for inclusion in a ticketing ballot. The first ballot and ticket allocation was followed some weeks later by a ‘second chance’ ticket allocation which was initially only open to those applicants who were not successful in the first ballot and then to those who were only partially successful in the first ballot.
There were nearly two million applications, with people applying for 11 tickets on average, creating a demand for over twenty two million tickets. There were 5.3 million tickets available in this round. The first round has resulted in over 700,000 successful applicants receiving on average between 4 and 5 tickets, and approximately one third of applicants being successful in receiving tickets.
Park tickets are planned for launch in 2012 once the total capacity of the Park is finalised. There will be preferential opportunities for the people in the Host Boroughs to take up a portion of these tickets.
Approximately 800,000 applicants have now received tickets within the UK.
Nearly six million tickets sold in total within the UK and worldwide.
A total of 5% of tickets have been purchased by sponsors/partners and broadcasters.
Disabled people and their carers have been provided tickets to tens of thousands of accessible seating, and wheelchair designated spaces. We understand the intention is for all accessible seating and wheelchair spaces to be offered to disabled people and people with accessibility needs throughout the ticketing process. We have been advised that total available seats and spaces will be finalised once the final seating configuration has been put in place.
Up to 200,000 tickets have been made available at no cost to young people.
Over 2.5M tickets cost £20 or less with special ticketing offers for older people and young people. The ‘pay your age scheme’ enabled young people to purchase a ticket at the price of their age rather than the full event price, as such an an 8 year old could be provided with an £8 ticket.
The Round Two ticket allocation will occur in Spring 2012 and will include any unsold tickets from Round One and the more than one million contingency tickets (once final seating numbers are known).
We have asked LOCOG to consider a system for distributing unused corporate tickets and to make this known as soon as possible.
