Duped. Scammed. Gouged. Sidelined.
LA28 organizers probably didn’t count on such words accompanying their first big ticket rollout ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. After all, the committee and city leaders spent the last six months talking up the event.
The LA28 committee described the arrival of the Games as a boon for the city’s inhabitants, with unifying statements: “Creating the Games together!” Mayor Karen Bass promoted a “Games for All” vision. And we’ve been told over and over that tickets to events would start as low as $28, the 24% ticketing fee included!
The presale ticket lottery for those residing in ZIP Codes around LA28 venues also meant we would have a fair shake at getting into the Games, right? Finally, an affordable way into a major L.A. sporting event for those of us who are not Casey Wasserman, the multimillionaire chairman of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
But that’s not what SoCal locals found in their first real brush with ticket access over the past week.
The presale launched Thursday, and by 10 a.m. Friday, aspiring ticket buyers reported that all artistic gymnastics events were marked “unavailable,” as was the opening ceremony. The few available tickets to swimming and athletic events such as track and field started at $1,116.27 per seat. Friends described the prices as “Criminal,” “Greedy AF” and “horrific.” My sibling said she felt crestfallen and likened it to discovering there was no Santa Claus. Jeffrey Epstein-level deception is where my mind went (please refer back to Wasserman).
Sunday was my window to sign in for the privilege of seeing what wasn’t available, or what was so far out of my price range it might as well have been cordoned off behind a gold rope and glass. There were no tennis, artistic gymnastics or men’s basketball tickets available. And by Monday, there were only a handful of events accessible for less than $150 a ticket (handball, women’s cricket, Judo). The women’s basketball bronze-medal game started at $407.17 a ticket.
Wait, was that a FBL08 Football (Soccer) Women’s Preliminary ticket at only $104.30? Forget it. It’s in St.Louis, among the handful of football (soccer) games that will take place outside California. The canoe slalom and kayak cross are scheduled for venues in Oklahoma City. Tickets are probably still available for those events, which even with air travel figured in may be the closest you’ll get an affordable LA28 event.
By Tuesday’s draw, we were graciously given the option to purchase closing ceremony tickets at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, at $4,961.20 apiece.
Remember L.A., we’re all in this together.
With that in mind, LA28 has offered locals another way in that won’t cost a dime: Volunteer to work the events throughout L.A., be it at the SoFi Arena, the Rose Bowl, the Coliseum or in Santa Anita. We should probably clarify that the dime saved is theirs, not yours. You’ll be working for free.
Those of us who registered and were selected for the ticket draw had a 48-hour time slot once the LA28 ticket portal opened to purchase up to 12 tickets per session or event. As that was hardly enough time to sell my home, jewelry and pets for ticket funds, my family and I will be watching swimming, table tennis and the 4×400-meter relay competitions from somewhere outside of L.A. That way we’ll avoid the LA28 traffic, limited parking and inflated prices.
More tickets will become available, according to LA28. Tickets for the general public for the LA28 Olympic Games are on sale from April 9 to 19. This “Drop 1” is available to fans worldwide who registered for the ticket draw and were selected for a time slot. Maybe they saved the lion’s share of tickets for the rest of the world … because they need locals to volunteer?
When the organizers claimed they would be “celebrating the communities closest to the action with the LA & OKC Locals Presale … giving local residents the chance to experience the Games up close and secure seats starting at $28,” they didn’t say that the “experience” would likely be outside their venues, on your TV screen, with $28 worth of streaming fees and snacks.
Nothing like being locked out of a party that’s taking place in your own backyard. Way to go, LA28.