Olympic tickets and the great public body allocation

Olympic tickets all applied for last night - all a bit last minute, but it would seem I was with thousands of others.  So many people did the same, or, probably as with me, simply forgot all about it, that the Olympic ticket website collapsed under the strain.  As I was on twitter, I saw many tweets of panic and agony of wanting to book but not able to get on.  At least they acknowledged this problem and extended the closure by an hour.

I opted for all the cheapest, child discounted tickets, which means we won't get to see any medals being dished out, but the first round of heats.  That's if we get them of course.  Seb Coe (watch the video) emphasised yesterday that there will be many, many people disappointed, particularly if you go for the more popular sports.  

There are 6.6 million tickets for sale, but half of them will be for VIP and corporate hospitality.  This I find astonishing.  Surely the public would snap up all the tickets?  I except the need for some tickets to be used for schmoosing, but half?  More importantly, who gets these tickets?  What organisations and businesses would be be deemed important enough to be allocated tickets?  Do they apply, or is it a system of patronage, groups that are known and that automatically get them?  Some are definitely worth it, such as the 120,000 tickets that will be allocated to school children aged 10-18 in London.

However, one thing I discovered at the last Mayor of London's People's Question Time on 15 March is that the Mayor of London and the London boroughs get ticket allocations.  Dee Doocey, Lib Dem London Assembly member and current chair of the Assembly told the packed Battersea Arts Centre that the government has been allocated a staggering 14,000 tickets, Boris has been allocated a mind boggling 2000 tickets, and each London borough gets 100 tickets.  These are not private companies, not third sector organisations, not volunteers being rewarded, but elected representatives and officials who will get these and use them as they feel fit.  

So who will get these tickets?  It seems it's a question that has troubled assembly members as well, hence Dee Doocy mentioning it.  One positive thing is that these tickets are not free.  The aim of the Games is to be profit making, so the London Olympic committee doesn't want to simply give away thousands of tickets and come out on a loss.  But in these days of austerity, the Assembly's Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism committee have issued a report that asks the government, the Mayor, and the London boroughs to publish a register stating which tickets have been purchased, who will get access to them, why it is justified, and how they will be paid for.  You can see the letters sent here.  

It's a shame the committee has no more teeth than that.  Of course, all three bodies can simply ignore these letters and go about buying tickets for whoever.  I for one really hope they do publish this information.  I see no reason why Ministers, officials, and their families should effectively queue jump the whole system that I and millions of others are being put through and get prime seats, free to them, but at a cost to us.  I wholeheartedly hope that the London boroughs such as Bexley won't simply take their 100 tickets and divvy them out to their senior managers and cabinet member councillors and their guests.  

The letters sent out have asked for a response by the 6 April.  Did they get a response?  I don't know.  I'll drop Dee an email to see.  Either way, let's hope there is transparency at these Games.