The Vancouver Organising Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) said that they have received over $345 million in requests for tickets to the Games.
As of this past Friday, November 7, the final day of the Request Period of Phase 1, an estimated 120 of 170 ticketed sessions were oversubscribed due to demand exceeding the available tickets. In terms of dollars, Canadians have already requested approximately four and a half times the value of tickets in Phase 1 for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games ($345 million over five weeks), compared to the first phase of ticketing ($75 million over nine weeks) for the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games, the most recent Olympic Games held in North America.
Caley Denton, vice president, ticketing and consumer marketing for VANOC, said: “Canadians are clearly not only excited to welcome the world, but are also excited to be here in person to witness the thrill of competition in 2010. For many people, submitting a request for tickets drives home the realization that we are now less than 15 months away from hosting one of the most anticipated events in the world.”
Tickets that were not purchased during the initial Request Period will be re-released for sale exclusively to Canadian residents who submitted a request during the Request Period — called the Priority Access Period. Running from December 8 to December 22, the Priority Access Period will offer account holders an opportunity to purchase additional tickets before they are again made available to the wider Canadian public. Tickets remaining after this period will go on sale to the public on a first-come, first-served basis in 2009.
An estimated 120 of 170 sessions will be allocated by lottery, including tickets for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as all figure skating, short track speed skating, speed skating and men's ice hockey (from quarter-finals onward). VANOC reports that more than 140,000 tickets were requested for the men’s gold medal hockey game, more than 41,000 tickets were requested for the women’s gold medal hockey game and over 84,000 tickets were requested for the Opening Ceremony.
