The giant rings now towering above John Betjeman’s head at St Pancras give anyone arriving at this wonderful station the impression that London truly is becoming an Olympic city. The extent to which the British public are intending to support London’s third Games, however, will become clearer over the next few weeks, following the results of the 2012 ticket ballot.
This is the weekend to check bank accounts and clear the Visa Card: payments for Olympic tickets commence on 10 May, and for some unexplained reason bidders need to have sufficient funds available for a period of several weeks. By 24 June the 1.8 million people who applied (95% of whom were from the UK) will know which tickets they have successfully purchased. Some, no doubt, will regret their zealous purchasing strategies; for others, the timid approach may leave them with just a morning at the badminton to look forward to.
Of all the criticisms that can be hurled at the Olympics, the ticketing process is far from top of the list. (Try inclusion of ridiculous sports, inappropriate sponsors, farcical decisions about the stadium or compulsory increases to London council tax bills, for starters). Expect the anti-Olympic trumpeters to be blaring next week, however, because, regardless of the results, the organising committee (Locog) is in for a tough time.
If applicants receive every seat for which they applied, accusations of a lack of interest will re-surface alongside complaints from individuals at having been ‘forced’ to over-spend. Conversely, a high demand for many events, and related limited success in the ballot, will generate further headlines about the percentage of corporate seats, and general over-pricing.
Perhaps aware of this no-win situation, Locog has been cagey about next steps – waiting to assess the response before publicising what happens next. It has been announced that any tickets which remain unsold will be available from winter 2011 on a first come, first served basis (using Visa only, of course). Less clear, however, is exactly what happens to those with too few or too many tickets after this ballot.
A ‘London 2012 Ticket Resale Scheme’ is mentioned on the Locog website, although the BBC reports that this will not open until 2012, and may only apply where demand can be matched. In other words, if you have purchased excess tickets on the assumption that you wouldn’t get them all, you must keep hold of them until next year, and then hope that someone wants to buy them through the official website. Aka, touts paradise (despite the threat of a £20,000 fine).
It is also reported that unsuccessful bidders in this ballot will be offered a priority chance to buy other tickets sooner than winter 2011. The hows and whats are yet to be announced, as are, for that matter, the whys. It was a ballot – you win some, you lose some, and then you are offered the semi-final of the archery?
The British public’s initial desire for tickets so far illustrates a willingness to get behind the Games, but opinions can quickly shift. Our third Olympics will probably be the most corporate that has ever taken place, and bad decisions about tickets at this stage could shift the balance between public support and business necessity even further in the wrong direction.
There is still plenty of time for those rings at St Pancras to become a symbol of distaste, waste, empty seats and corporate greed, and without public support the Olympics will lose its colour. You only need to look behind the rings to see what 2012 will look like in monochrome: cold and dull. Let’s hope Locog remembers to finish this job properly.
Update: It was announced on 9 May that the start date for money leaving accounts would now be delayed for a week; Locog gave no valid reason. It could be described as falling at the first hurdle, but that would be generous – this is closer to being disqualified for a false start.
