MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Outrage in Britain over the empty seats at the London Games stadiums
Organisers fought to quell growing public outrage over empty seats across venues at the London Olympic Games where China has laid down an early marker with a world record win in the pool and a commanding early lead in the medals table. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesI'm going Saturday - I figured that if the Olympics are being held roughly a kilometre from my home and I don't bother to attend then I'm unlikely to ever go.
Jul 30th, 2012 - 06:48 am - Link - Report abuse 0Women's hockey......err.....some sort of game where women whack balls with sticks. My hope is that the Australian side are hot.
I don't see what the big deal is really - Lots of sporting venues have empty seats on the best of days, the fact it was raining yesterday will have kept some people away. Not only that, just because cooperations have been given free tickets for their employees and to give them out as competitions, it doesn't mean those that got the tickets wanted to go and its not like we can force them. If anything Locog simply gave too many away to cooperations (8% was allocated to them) so if anything Locog only have themselves to blame, not to mention the shamble of the ticket balloting, where a lot that wanted tickets couldn't even get them.
Jul 30th, 2012 - 07:46 am - Link - Report abuse 0Besides, must people are happy to just sit and watch at home, i for one will not be travelling 300 miles down to london. If anything they should have held the games in a City that was more central, like Manchester. Making the games more accessible to people living in other parts of the country.
Seems the seats at the beach volleyball had been sold... but the people didn't turn up....
Jul 30th, 2012 - 09:42 am - Link - Report abuse 0Argentinians had booked the seats.... couldn't get the $US to pay for the trip......
@1 Our women's hockey team are pretty good.
Jul 30th, 2012 - 10:16 am - Link - Report abuse 0It appears that the empty seats were allocated not to sponsors but to the 'Olympic Family', that is VIP's, foreign dignitaries and sports associations, press etc. Sponsors are making sure their tickets are used and some have been returned for resale. New tickets come up for sale every day at the official website, I picked up a couple of extra tickets yesterday.
Interestingly, all of the ticket touts caught so far have been selling tickets allocated to foreign VIPs.
London is the only UK city with any chance of securing an Olympic games. They were pretty much told that after the 1996 bid debacle which got nowhere. London is our capital and the obvious place - where else would have the accomodation and infrastructure to cope? The bottom line is that travelling 150 miles or 300 miles makes little difference and London is easy to get to from almost anywhere in the UK. and the rest of the world too. It would not make commercial sense anywhere else in the UK - plus events are going on all over the place.
Jul 30th, 2012 - 10:22 am - Link - Report abuse 0@5 “ The bottom line is that travelling 150 miles or 300 miles makes little difference and London is easy to get to from almost anywhere in the UK.”
Jul 30th, 2012 - 12:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Sorry but a 300 mile trip down to london is a 600 mile trip, or 300 mile 1 day and cost of hotel for x amount of nights, plus 300 mile trip back. It be like going to paris for a holiday for those that live in the UK within 300 miles of Paris. Also is atlanta USA capital, is Sydney Australias Capital, is Munich Germanys? No they are not. Also the building of additional infastructure to cope with the Games, would have given a much more vital economic boost to the north, especailly around the manchester area not to mention provide much needed jobs as a result.
So sorry but i would much rathe have a 300 mile round trip than a 600 miles round trip. Plus most notherns can not even afford a 100 mile trip let alone a 600 mile round trip. Where as those living in the southern regions on better wages can afford to travel more. So is the london olympics a benefit to the UK and UK population as a whole. Now its more like an expensive show for those such as bankers and those that live in london or in the southern regions with above average wages.
Sure i can afford it no problem, but its not just the 600 mile trip putting me off, its the fact i have a business to run as well, so in my case business comes first, and does my business benefit from the olympics? No not one bit, only the sponsers get to really benefit and maybe business local to the olympic park, but that all really. So for me and the majority that live up north or own business, the olympics is nothing to celebrate but just another show on TV to watch. Off course i support our atheletes but thats as far as my support goes am afraid.
Manchester had the Commonwealth Games and the investment at that time. It ran very well too.
Jul 30th, 2012 - 01:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I have to agree that only London would have won this particular bid. It was based on sustainability, legacy etc. It is the first 'public transport' games, for instance, and no other city had the infrastructure or airport capacity for that. The bidding process is so blooming complicated.
What is so pleasing is to see the regeneration of the East End - not a wealthy part of the city - and the long-term planning regarding the Olympic village.
It has created housing and facilities to an area really requiring investment.
I didn't go to the Commonwealth Games in Manchester because I was out of the country but I think I would have. I am doing a 300 mile trip to see an Olympic event outside London mainly because I have some leisure time to do it this time. But I can completely see your point.
The seats are empty because people arn't interested in the sport.Its become a marketing event and is only associated with success.And unfortunately,there are always more losers than winners.They should hold them in Hollywood and sell DVD's of the events.No travelling,created atmosphere ,no special lanes for officials and no bad weather.It won't be sport but I think it will be more what people want ha ha
Jul 30th, 2012 - 01:57 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“The seats are empty because people arn't interested in the sport” Once again demonstrating how completely out-of-touch you are with reality. Neg. Neg. Neg.
Jul 30th, 2012 - 03:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0There are empty seats because the organisers, tried to be fair and distribute the seats in a socially just manner that would avoid making the most sought after events too expensive for the general public. Very laudable, but daft. The result is that many people have tickets for events that they are not interested in.
Jul 30th, 2012 - 03:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@10 Yes, I agree that they tried a bit too hard in that respect, however, there was an option to return for re-sale tickets not wanted. And when you applied for tickets you chose the events and sports you wanted to see.
Jul 30th, 2012 - 04:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The empty seats are the tickets allocated to the Olympic Family, not the general public.
Between the anthem and flag amateur cock-ups, the immigration and police strikes, the olympic cauldron fk-up, and now all the empty seats, plus the snub of Argentina's flag... these Olympic games have quite the patina of “3rd world” organization to them. Feels quite homely :)
Jul 30th, 2012 - 06:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0And YOU ALL KNOW if immigration and police had been striking in Argentina, if WE had messed the flags an anthems in an event, if we had empty seats, and if we had royally screwed up the design of the olympic cauldron in an argie Olympics, you would all be laughing, complaining, and bettliting us for being “bad organizers”.
In fact i have no doubts that in 2016 you will all have collective amnesia and criticize anything “third worldy” about the Rio Olympics.
Btw, what a bunch of dirty players the Great Britain men's hockey team, they are out to injure the argies! No class... and the fans are into it like its a final or something.
And then you all say there would be nothing there if not for the Falklands. :)
TTT
Jul 30th, 2012 - 07:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You are right in paragraph 2, that if Argentina made these same mistakes there would be undeserved howling and derision from the RG-haters.
Your own mockery in paragraph 1 is therefore needless.
Here in Chile the media has been universally impressed with the games so far and I am enjoying them although we have little to cheer. Glad to see that you are watching the RG team.
Waht police strike? yhe police in the UK do not strike, it is illegal!!!!
Jul 30th, 2012 - 08:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As for the hockey, I expected nothing less, sore loser!!!
“plus the snub of Argentina's flag”
Jul 30th, 2012 - 08:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The thing is this didn't actually happen in real life. This is something you have decided to make up in your own mind.
@13
Jul 30th, 2012 - 08:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Nope, not just the argie haters, I will highlight those organizational gaffes because if those happen in Rio, you can be sure the Europeans and Americans will let out their racist side and claim it would never happen if they organized them.
THe fact you yourself admit that if the shoe was in the other mouth, we would be flayed, and not just us, any Latin country.
Wait for the US, UK and EU elitists to come out in full force in 2016... they will have “conveniently” forgotten about the London miscues, and of course lets not forget which olympics had a terrorist attack in them!
TTT
Jul 30th, 2012 - 11:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You were beaten fair and square.
Envy always supports the losers,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
As for the snub,
Just for you, eye went to the place today, and personally spoke to your flag,
And the reply was,
Leave me alone, I like it around here, its quiet and people leave me in peace, and besides, [the flag said]
Mr TTT said we needed no one, so no one comes to see me,
Its all his fault,
So there ya go,
No snub, he was just trying to please you.lolol.
.
there was so much pressure, TTT, imagine if after the argie adv the brit mens hockey team would have lose in their own soil??? hmmhhmhmhmhmhm
Jul 30th, 2012 - 11:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0even I heard their fans with bombos or sth like that...never seen before
Did the brits play dirty??? tipycal of them, they were desperate to win.
The argies were great, never give up, with much less economic possibilities and very humbles, the argies are doing their best.
even in defeat, you never learn, its all our fault.
Jul 30th, 2012 - 11:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0the nasty brits,lol.
Empty seats all over, they should've let Paris organize the games, better food, girls ....and no empty seats.
Jul 31st, 2012 - 04:38 am - Link - Report abuse 0“Also is atlanta USA capital, is Sydney Australias Capital, is Munich Germanys?”
Jul 31st, 2012 - 10:57 am - Link - Report abuse 0Err - I was talking about the UK - visitors from abroad want to come to London - it's as simple as that. At no point did I say only capital cities can host the games.
However it's perfectly true that the games should have been held in Manchester for your own personal convienience. The only problem is that the games would have gone to Paris if Manchester had been our candidate city.
GB 1 - BRAZIL 0.
Jul 31st, 2012 - 08:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 01/4 final.next.
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