LA residents were promised an ‘affordable’ Olympics. In reality, tickets have cost more than $5,000
Technical errors left some residents locked out of the system for hours, only for them to find most affordable seats gone by the time they gained entry
The “most affordable” Olympics in history left local fans outraged after the first tickets for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games went on sale with thousand-dollar price tags. Despite organizers branding the event as accessible to locals, many fans who logged on for their assigned time slots this week found that tickets for popular sessions were either sold out or priced at several thousand dollars, the Los Angeles Times reported. Andie Pangan, 28, told the outlet she had hoped to secure seats for tennis or climbing, as she lives just 10 minutes from a primary venue in Carson.
Instead, she found events unavailable or priced well above $1,000. “I was shocked,” Pangan said. “Even climbing was all gone.
I never really thought I would come out of this presale without getting anything. ” The pricing structure has drawn unfavorable comparisons to previous international and domestic sporting events. While LA28 officials stated that 75 percent of tickets would be priced under $400, those attempting to buy during the opening window found single seats for the opening ceremony ranging from $329 to $5,519.
Longtime residents who attended the 1984 games say the high costs for 2028 are prohibitive for middle-class families, leading some to skip the event entirely (Getty Images) By comparison, the most expensive tickets for swimming finals at the Paris 2024 Games were capped at approximately $1,050. On the domestic front, while the 2028 prices reflect a growing trend in U. S.