2010 Tickets Still Hot!

Todd Warnell already had a healthy selection of tickets for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, including men's and women's hockey, curling, and a medal ceremony.

But the 31-year-old Toronto resident still had some time to kill during his planned one-week stay in Vancouver for the Games, so he sat down at his computer over the weekend for the second round of ticket sales.

"We now have a minimum of two events each day - it worked out pretty well,'' Warnell said Sunday from his home in Toronto.

"I was shocked at how many events were available. We didn't think we'd be able to get all of our A-list, and we were able to get everything.''

Vancouver Olympic organizers offered up more than 200,000 tickets to every single Olympic event. Sales were strong, with more than 130,000 tickets sold in the first four hours alone.

That included 1,000 tickets for the gold-medal men's hockey game, which sold out in a few minutes.

Warnell, who will be travelling to Vancouver with his wife and two more relatives, landed tickets for three hockey games, including a Canada-U.S. match, and speed skating.

Overall, the group has spent $4,000 on Olympic tickets, but Warnell said its money well spent on an event that he's wanted to attend ever since he watched the 1988 Calgary Olympics on TV as a child.

"When Vancouver was awarded the Games, I just said, `I'm going to the Games no matter what I'm doing at that point in my life,''' said Warnell.

Tickets were selling on a first-come, first-served basis at the Olympic organizing committee's website at www.vancouver2010.com.

There were still tickets available late Sunday.

A third, smaller round of sales is expected later this year as organizers finalize seating plans at venues.

The first round of ticket sales began last year, with seats allocated through a lottery system because of high demand. In December, people who signed up for the lottery were given preferred access to leftover tickets on a first-come, first-served basis.

Some ticket-buyers complained at the time that the online ticket system had problems.

Warnell wrote a blog post in December saying the website appeared to be crashing as he spent hours trying to buy tickets.

But this time, organizers used a "virtual waiting room,'' keeping users away from the main ticket site on a separate page, and then letting them a little at a time so the system wouldn't be overloaded.

Warnell said things went far better this time.

"(Last December) the whole ticketing process was just overwhelmed, we just kept getting some server-maintenance error,'' he said.

"So I was kind of concerned going into yesterday, but it was surprisingly smooth. There were no hiccups.''

Altogether, 1.6 million tickets are available to the 2010 Olympics.

The first phase of ticket sales raised $94.7 million for the committee. Organizers are aiming to make up to another $50 million off ticket sales to the public.

In total, the organizing committee hopes to earn $260 million off ticket sales, although much of that revenue will come from sales to sponsors, national Olympic committees and other partners.

 

SOURCE: http://www.ctvolympics.ca/