There's a lot to be upset about, but I found the universal 24% service fee particularly egregious. That feels like the kind of thing that wouldn't fly in other countries/economies/cultures, it...
There's a lot to be upset about, but I found the universal 24% service fee particularly egregious.
That feels like the kind of thing that wouldn't fly in other countries/economies/cultures, it baffles me that people in the US put up with stuff like that.
I want to preface my comment with the disclaimer that I am among the least sports inclined person on the planet. My favorite thing about watching live professional hockey last month was the...
I want to preface my comment with the disclaimer that I am among the least sports inclined person on the planet. My favorite thing about watching live professional hockey last month was the flavoured popcorn: the hockey did not make top 10. I routinely and immediately unsubscribe from any sports subs/discs/channels when making a new account, and I would 100% rather stare blankly into the middle distance than to endure watching sports on tv. I would pay money to never see sports in my cable package. The sports pages of my newspaper subscriptions have never been read: I am far more likely to read every single last classified and obituary than the sports. If forced to at gunpoint, I would choose the horse betting page hoping for blurry black and white photos of horses. I hope I have been able to illustrate just how little I care about watching or hearing about humans moving around.
But. I lived in Vancouver during 2010, and having volunteered for the Games, I am, inexplicably, an Olympics fan.
specific critique of the author's piece.
these Games would be financially accessible, including $28 tickets available to locals, with nearly 50 percent of all tickets costing less than $200, and only 5 percent of tickets costing more than $1,000
This is amazing. Yes I'm sure the roll out was clumsy and people still count get enough tickets etc. But that ANY would be affordable by locals is a feat.
Reading the article, I'm confused by the author's confusion. A meme comes to mind, the one with the man with a noose saying "First time?". Has author never registered for a University course or tried to get musical tickets or attended a live concert before?
there’s no standard tier pricing across events
Of course not. That's like suggesting as many people want to watch the Olympic hockey gold, as the curling gold. Some sports are far more popular than others, like any other type of sport or live event on the planet.
And then complaining that tickets are for a match you won't know who's playing, and maybe Americans won't even be playing. Sir, this is a Wendy's the Olympics: it's for the entire world. If you want to only cheer for Americans, then by all means go visit the USA pavilion, go stand in line to see the torch relay, and go to any local sports bar watch together days during your big games.
The most you could spend on the finale celebration was a cool $4,961.20. That’s nearly $5K not to see any sports.
This, after author just complained about not caring enough to see women playing cricket!!! For an insanely affordable $105!!! The first year after cricket has been absent from the Olympics for 100+ years!
The next part seems to be complaining about tickets being too expensive, AND LA28 will cost too much. Well then which is it then, you want cheap tickets or you want them to break even? These things are crazy expensive to host, and maybe that's why they're charging high flyers $5000+ not to see any sports, hmm?
I’m holding out the slightest hope that organizers might open up more inventory, and perhaps I’ll be lucky enough to see the next Simone Biles or Suni Lee in person, or watch Anthony Edwards and A’ja Wilson lead the US basketball teams to gold.
I don't know who any of these athletes are except Ms Biles, but, my guy, you just refused to see the world's best women playing Crickets! What if they set a world record or a crazy young player makes a star debut or this is the last Olympics of a reigning Cricket queen?
I don't know the first thing about cricket . But in two years, I'm sure I can watch a bit and learn, maybe join a local lessson session / a funspiel equivalent tournament, find and talk to other fans, and in general get hyped about it somehow. Author didn't give it a chance, but continues to complain about other sports being more expensive.
Anyway, going back to my experience with being part of Vancouver 2010: there are a ton of things to do during the Olympics that are completely free and not sports-watching and memorable. It's a big party coming to your town, and even if you don't buy a single ticket, going from Pavilion to Pavilion is like an international world's fair. There'll be cute merch galore, lots of unique fashion, interactive history displays, and being host to so many people speaking different languages together in one place is a fantastic experience. There's also going to be a lot of non sports business booths and a ton of swag: kind of like the opposite of a big nerd convention, but should still have lots of fun little games and free experiences.
Buying tickets to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is kind of like having a megawealthy friend talk to you about the hobbies that they enjoy.
[...]
How much would you pay to watch people gracefully sword fight? Do you think you could learn to love cricket if you were spending $100? Would you like to go into mild credit card debt to see a less beautiful version of tennis?
There's a lot to be upset about, but I found the universal 24% service fee particularly egregious.
That feels like the kind of thing that wouldn't fly in other countries/economies/cultures, it baffles me that people in the US put up with stuff like that.
I want to preface my comment with the disclaimer that I am among the least sports inclined person on the planet. My favorite thing about watching live professional hockey last month was the flavoured popcorn: the hockey did not make top 10. I routinely and immediately unsubscribe from any sports subs/discs/channels when making a new account, and I would 100% rather stare blankly into the middle distance than to endure watching sports on tv. I would pay money to never see sports in my cable package. The sports pages of my newspaper subscriptions have never been read: I am far more likely to read every single last classified and obituary than the sports. If forced to at gunpoint, I would choose the horse betting page hoping for blurry black and white photos of horses. I hope I have been able to illustrate just how little I care about watching or hearing about humans moving around.
But. I lived in Vancouver during 2010, and having volunteered for the Games, I am, inexplicably, an Olympics fan.
specific critique of the author's piece.
This is amazing. Yes I'm sure the roll out was clumsy and people still count get enough tickets etc. But that ANY would be affordable by locals is a feat.
Reading the article, I'm confused by the author's confusion. A meme comes to mind, the one with the man with a noose saying "First time?". Has author never registered for a University course or tried to get musical tickets or attended a live concert before?
Of course not. That's like suggesting as many people want to watch the Olympic hockey gold, as the curling gold. Some sports are far more popular than others, like any other type of sport or live event on the planet.
And then complaining that tickets are for a match you won't know who's playing, and maybe Americans won't even be playing. Sir, this is
a Wendy'sthe Olympics: it's for the entire world. If you want to only cheer for Americans, then by all means go visit the USA pavilion, go stand in line to see the torch relay, and go to any local sports bar watch together days during your big games.This, after author just complained about not caring enough to see women playing cricket!!! For an insanely affordable $105!!! The first year after cricket has been absent from the Olympics for 100+ years!
The next part seems to be complaining about tickets being too expensive, AND LA28 will cost too much. Well then which is it then, you want cheap tickets or you want them to break even? These things are crazy expensive to host, and maybe that's why they're charging high flyers $5000+ not to see any sports, hmm?
I don't know who any of these athletes are except Ms Biles, but, my guy, you just refused to see the world's best women playing Crickets! What if they set a world record or a crazy young player makes a star debut or this is the last Olympics of a reigning Cricket queen?
I don't know the first thing about cricket . But in two years, I'm sure I can watch a bit and learn, maybe join a local lessson session / a funspiel equivalent tournament, find and talk to other fans, and in general get hyped about it somehow. Author didn't give it a chance, but continues to complain about other sports being more expensive.
Anyway, going back to my experience with being part of Vancouver 2010: there are a ton of things to do during the Olympics that are completely free and not sports-watching and memorable. It's a big party coming to your town, and even if you don't buy a single ticket, going from Pavilion to Pavilion is like an international world's fair. There'll be cute merch galore, lots of unique fashion, interactive history displays, and being host to so many people speaking different languages together in one place is a fantastic experience. There's also going to be a lot of non sports business booths and a ton of swag: kind of like the opposite of a big nerd convention, but should still have lots of fun little games and free experiences.
Article should be gifted; no paywall