11.09.07
Athens it ain’t
When I was working at the Athens Olympics, we watched some of the most amazing competitions in half-empty arenas in the evenings after our day shifts ended. It was astounding to watch the women’s all-around gymnastics final in an arena where I could see not just one or two empty seats, but whole sections. Athens just wasn’t fired up enough about the Games to fill the seats.
To put it mildly, that will not be a problem in Beijing.
The ticket-buying process originally set out by BOCOG - first come, first served, over the Internet - literally melted down this week as the entire Internet-using population of the country evidently logged on to the site all at the same time for their tickets. That’s led to the decision to distribute the domestic allotment of tickets via a lottery system.
Heavy demand leads to Olympic ticket lottery (AP, via Sports Illustrated)