1996 Summer Olympics
 

I'm hoping someone on here might have gone to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and could give me a clue as to what to expect for tickets.

D will be in England for school this summer and would like to go to an Olympic event (choices football, basketball, athletics (track)). The local site where tickets are purchased for the US appears to be pretty much sold out. But I'm wondering if one could expect there to be lots of tickets available through scalping or some other online resale closer to the event.

I'm really just curious -- what in the world does the availability/cost of tickets for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta have to do with the 2012 Olympics in London?

Well, the 1996 Olympics is the last summer Olympics that was in the US and I imagine the ticket availability would be similar. If you were able to pick up last minute tickets for the 1996 Olympics, I would extrapolate to hope that means the same would be available for the London ones.

Obviously, I can't ask anyone about last minute ticket availability for the 2012 Olympics because they haven't occurred yet.

That could be a very bad assumption. It may work out but very well may not.

Of course.

Extrapolating further, I know that there was last minute ticket availability for some events for 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

You know that London is not in the United States?

But I wasn't asking about London...was I...I was asking about Atlanta.

If you want information about London Olympic tickets, I'd suggest you re-post in the Europe forum using the tag "London Olympics Tickets Question". You're going to get many more informed answers there. We have a lot of UK-based posters who can probably tell you about the availability of tickets.

I'm sure some tickets will be available at the last minute, particularly to less interesting events. This almost always happens. But your daughter shouldn't expect to attend any gymanstics or swimming finals. Track and Field usually has the biggest stadium, and events like tennis and soccer are usually easier to obtain. But there will be no relationship between costs in Atlanta in 1996 and London in 2012.

For the Atlanta Olympics they had 3 rounds of a lottery chance to buy tickets. I bought tickets in every round and ended up with tickets for every day except two during the Olympics. I bought VERY inexpensive tickets - all less than $25 (and if I remember correctly some were $10 and $15). I bought all sorts of tickets - multiple track events, archery, tennis, field hockey, beach volleyball, basketball, and probably some others. I loved visiting all the different venues. My all time favorite was the least expensive tickets = Greco-Roman wrestling. I was amazed and entranced - and thrilled to see an event that began at the first Olympics. There are chances for buying tickets on the resale market. Tickets for the "big" events went for hundreds of dollars. Tickets for the less known or preliminary events were very expensive i.e. cheap. It was a blast being there, soaking up the atmosphere - the excitement, the pin-swapping, etc.

I also went to the dress rehearsal for the opening ceremony. This was thanks to a friend who was volunteering. I had multiple friends who volunteered at all different levels - from school teachers working together on the floor of the opening and closing ceremonies, working high level security and meeting presidents and VIPS from numerous countries to picking up Greg Louganis at the airport (in for a PR event).

If he can hook up with a volunteer opportunity, he can have a great experience. If not, I would say the answer to your question is "yes". Local ordinances, etc will come into play, but there should be tickets available from resale vendors.

"But I wasn't asking about London...was I...I was asking about Atlanta."

On the assumption that London, in a different country, will do it the same way.

"On the assumption that London, in a different country, will do it the same way"

15 years later.

Last minute tickets are always availabe - IF you are willng to pay the price - which will probbly be enormous - esp for the items listed which are among the most popular. I would assume seeral multipls of the face value. (And London - being within easy reach of so many other countries - will probbly have fewer "left over" tickets -even for the unpopular events.

starrs...thanks so much for your info.

I like starrs' idea of volunteering and being part of it all. I volunteered in Savannah (Atlanta Olympics, Savannah had the yachting events) and had a ball doing it. If I'd only sold that uniform immediately after...they were going for $700-800 for the entire thing..hat, shirts, skort and shorts, belt, socks, shoes, and even watch. Thought I'd want it for the memories, but now it's just taking up closet space. Another missed opportunity. :) At any rate, volunteering is enjoyable and depending where he is stationed, he may get to spend some time at some events.

We were not given any tickets to other events, but DH got some through his job for track and field. It was a ball just being there and part of the hustle and bustle. He'll enjoy that aspect even if he doesn't score for tickets.

Volunteering sounds like a great idea...and a cool thing to put on a resume too. I'll check on the London forum and see if it's possible for internationals to volunteer. Thanks.

You are welcome, away. I'm not sure you got so much grief for your question - but that often happens here.

I hope he gets to go to events. Have him look for the less popular events. The experience is just as enjoyable - IMO anyway.

We got to see names in tennis just feet away. I went to a few matches at centre court, but loved the preliminary rounds more and wandering over to the practice/warm-up courts even more.

Didn't care a whit for field hockey, but that may have been the most enjoyable day - mostly from the excitement and entertainment in the stands.

The track and field events were a bit tedious.

Again, LOVED Greco-Roman wrestling. Who knew?! :-)

I'm remembering more - saw judo and fencing too. Wished I'd gone to shooting.

I bought some resale gymnastics rehersal tickets for very few dollars shortly before the 1996 games and went to ATL for that. Even the rehersal was fun.
We also received free baseball tickets via my husband's employer and got to see Japan and Cuba teams. We just went to ATL for those few days.

The way the tickets are being sold will have a big impact on resale. As Starrs says, the ATL games involved lottery for a package. Many people ended up with a package containing some tickets they did not want and resold. However, the price of resale tickets seemed to go up and availability of resale tickets seemed to drop tremendously once the games started--I think the excitement of the event and the unexpected enjoyment of events such as Starrs mentions led to people keeping their tickets and going to more events than they expected.