Saturday, November 15, 2008

Getting those 2010 Olympics tix

2010 Olympic Winter Games

Canadian Olympic enthusiasts have submitted more than $345 million in requests for tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter and Paralympic Winter Games during the Phase 1 Request Period, available only to Canadians. VANOC (Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Games) reports that as of Nov. 7, 2008 an estimated 120 of 170 ticketed sessions were "oversubscribed" due to demand exceeding availability.

In terms of dollars, Canadians have already requested approximately four and a half times the value of tickets for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games ($345 million over five weeks), compared to the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games ($75 million over nine weeks).

Tickets that were not purchased during the Phase 1 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 (Dec. 8-22, 2008). During this time, account holders may purchase additional tickets before they are 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.


For folks like me living south of the 49th Parallel, tickets may be purchased by USA residents through CoSport, an authorized ticket sales agent of the US Olympic Committee. Here's their timeline:

* Oct. 3-Nov. 7, 2008: Ticket Request Phase
* Mid-December 2008: Ticket Allocation and Confirmation
* February/March 2009: Live Ticket Sales commence (first-come, first-served sales of remaining available tickets)

Well, not only did I miss CoSport's Ticket Request Phase, I wasn't among the 200+ members of the media invited to the
Vancouver 2010 World Press Briefing in Vancouver and Whistler Nov. 18-21. The elite group represents international news wire services, photo agencies, newspapers, internet sites and non-rights holding broadcast organizations around the world.

I have a have a hunch I won't make the final cut for the actual 2010 Games, either. The International Olympic Committee has established a quota of 2,800 accreditations.

2,801?

The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler Feb. 12- 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will also host the Paralympic Winter Games March 12-21, 2010. Photo by Sue Frause.

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