LA Olympics Face Heat for Ticket Prices, Availability

Many in Los Angeles have been anxiously awaiting their chance to buy tickets for the 2028 Olympics, but when they went on sale earlier this month, excitement turned to disappointment.

Yes, there were $28 tickets for some events in the local presale, but the cheap tickets went fast.

What was left were tickets in the hundreds and thousands, with prices reaching more than $5,500, as reported by Suhauna Hussain and Thuc Nhi Nguyen of the Los Angeles Times.

“Tickets for a single seat at the opening ceremony were costing between $329 and $5,519, and the cheaper tickets were selling quickly,” Hussain and Nguyen wrote. “Some were able to buy cheap $28 tickets for desired events such as the women’s soccer semifinals, but others saw comparable prices only for preliminary events and less popular sports such as badminton and judo.”

Even worse, some hopeful ticket buyers were unable to access the site at all.

Have Southern Californians Already Missed Out on Olympics Tickets?

There will be more ticket drops, Olympics organizers say, and even after that, tickets will be available on resale markets for fans who want to see a specific event.

Some of those tickets, though, will likely be very expensive, especially for popular American sports like baseball, which could feature MLB players.

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Furthermore, fees and charges — reportedly up to 24% — are discouraging fans.

Ticketing company executive Ahmed Nimale told the Times that the ticket prices are “opaque.”

“Is this the best experience? For fans to be priced out potentially due to higher fees?” Nimale said. “My question is, are fans really getting the best shot to get tickets in the first place? There’s a need for transparency here that’s building.”