Andy Pangan never imagined the possibility that she would fail to earn a ticket to the tennis or climbing events at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
She has been watching tennis since she was young and wanted tickets to see Filipina breakout star Alex Eala, whom she hopes will qualify and lead the Philippines to the Olympics.
But when she logged onto the website at 10 a.m. on Monday, the start of her ticket-buying time slot, all the events she even remotely wanted were sold out, unavailable or more than $1,000 out of her price range.
“I was shocked. Even the climb was over,” said Pangan, who lives 10 minutes from Carson Stadium, which will serve as an Olympic venue. “I really never thought I would come out of this presale without achieving something.”
In a city brimming with excitement over hosting the 2028 Games, the dream has suffered a setback as tickets finally go on sale.
Typically, tickets that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars are reserved for seats at half court, the 50-yard line, or the front row of a concert.
Customers were surprised to learn that tickets for LA28, which officials had described as “affordable” for locals, could cost much less. Tickets ranged between $329 and $5,519 for a seat at the inaugural event, and the cheaper tickets were selling out fast. Some were able to purchase cheap $28 tickets for desired events such as the women’s soccer semifinals, but others only saw comparable prices for preliminary events and less popular sports such as badminton and judo.
To add to the frustration, some log ons during their time slot last week were booted out and redirected to a webpage showing an “Access Denied” message.
Kirsten Simitzi, 50, of San Fernando Valley, logged on for her time slot exactly at 10 a.m. on Friday. But she got error messages for two and a half hours and couldn’t access the pool of tickets until 12:30 p.m., by which time, she said, “selections were low.”
She expected more cheap tickets to be added when her mother got a chance over the weekend, or during her sister’s slot on Monday. But tickets have become more expensive, he said.
“They were like, ‘You’re local, you get tickets for $28.’ But that didn’t happen, the tickets ran out,” Simitzi said.
Tickets are still selling fast, indicating deep excitement for the first L.A. Games since 1984.
LA28 said in a statement regarding the website errors that “the issues reported were not widespread, and have been resolved.”
“We are excited by the level of interest and excitement for LA28 tickets,” it added. “At any time, fans experiencing technical difficulties can contact us on any of our support channels to help facilitate a seamless experience.”
LA28 has stated that tickets will be made available in more affordable price ranges in future ticket drops, open to those who do not live in the counties closest to the Olympic venues.
LA28 said the 24% ticket fee on Olympic tickets is “in line with standard industry practices for ticketing live events” and covers the cost of securely processing and distributing the tickets.
“All pricing is displayed upfront, including the prices people see when they shop, and a breakdown of price and service charges is provided at checkout for greater transparency,” LA28 said in an emailed statement.
Pangan, 28, who lives in Torrance, was confused that her friend, who lives in Orange County, was able to get desirable cheap tickets for swimming, track and tennis.
Pangan said, “I’m happy for her, but I told her I was so jealous. I should have asked her to buy tickets for us.”
Pangan said she would try her best to get a ticket again in the future.
Each fan is allowed to purchase a maximum of 12 tickets to all Olympic events, plus an additional 12 tickets to football matches. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies have a maximum of four tickets per event and are included in the normal 12-ticket maximum limit.
Fans who won a time slot in this drop, but did not reach the ticket maximum, will be automatically entered into a subsequent ticket lottery until they have maxed out their ticket allotment.
But the rules are somewhat confusing: LA28 clarified that even if fans have extra allocations for football tickets, if they reach their maximum of 12 Olympic tickets, regardless of the number of football tickets purchased, they will not be eligible for future discounts.
The ticket drop, coming at an as-yet-undetermined date later this year, will follow the same sequence as before: a registration period that is free to enter, a random lottery that assigns time slots for purchases and a 48-hour time slot during which fans can log in to purchase tickets.
Each drop features a wide range of tickets across different games, seasons, and price points, but not every ticket is released at the same time. Future drops may contain tickets to events that were unavailable or sold out during earlier drops.
It was easy for Harris Auerbach, 56, of Agoura Hills, to get in line to buy tickets during their Monday time slot, but when he and his wife, who were looking to buy tickets for their daughters and some extended family, looked at the price of tickets for the track event, they were “sad” by the prices “in the stratosphere.”
And Auerbach was particularly surprised that there were zero tickets available for the opening ceremony, while tickets for the closing ceremony started at $4,900 before fees.
“When we found out about the 24% service charge, it was like icing on the cake,” Auerbach said.
Auerbach, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley, said he remembers the excitement of attending the 1984 L.A. Olympics, the celebration and camaraderie there. He wanted to relive that experience, but said the sticker shock left a bad taste, and he doesn’t plan to look at the stamps in the future. His family will use that time and money to travel, he said.
Auerbach, who runs a thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operation, has attended countless sporting events, including the Kentucky Derby, the NBA Finals and the World Series, and he doesn’t recall ever paying more than $400 for a Final Four men’s basketball national championship. He said the prices would be prohibitive for people like his wife, a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
He said, “I don’t know how they can go. I don’t know how they can afford it. It’s a missed opportunity for the Olympics and the region.”
LA28 announced Fundraising to give tickets to local peopleBut details of how they will be distributed have not been announced.
LA Olympics organizers said about 5% of all tickets will be priced more than $1,000 and 75% will be priced under $400. But the prices definitely seem higher than in previous years. At the last Summer Olympics in Paris, tickets for the high-profile sport of swimming on the night of the finals typically went for 690 euros. This is $795 in current US dollars. The maximum price for a swimming final was 980 euros.
Excessive service fees on tickets are unique to American venues, and typically come from the practice of bundling financing, distribution and venue costs into “one opaque price,” said Ahmed Nimale, a former Live Nation executive and chief executive of ticket provider KYD Labs in New York City. In Europe, service charges are usually in the single digits.
Nimale said the Olympics scenario promises affordable tickets to local residents, but the failure to deliver in some cases shows the need for a different system. Although the Olympics have enlisted several companies, including AXS and Ticketmaster, for a ticket resale platform that will open next year, that platform likely won’t improve prices for fans, Nimale said, adding that the price of tickets on the resale platform has “increased substantially.”
“Is this the best experience? Could high fees potentially devalue fans?” Nimale said. “My question is, are fans really getting the best chance to get tickets in the first place? There’s a need for transparency here that is building.”
Times staff writer Jim Rainey contributed to this report.
