Hey Mesa Nation and welcome back to The Hitching Post. Are you aware that the 2028 Olympic Games are being held in Los Angeles July 14th through the 30th, 2028? Are you also aware that tickets are already on sale? With prices as high as $5,000 dollars for one ticket, the public is not happy. LA residents have had a lot to say, and the ticket holders don’t know how to handle the backlash.
On April 9th, excitement was buzzing as tickets went on sale for local residents. However, as tickets were being browsed through, people were noticing tremendously high fees, making them very expensive. LA28 had made a presale ticket lottery on April 2nd for residents in Southern California, where tickets were widely ranged from 28 dollars to a couple thousand. It has been claimed that within seconds the 28 dollar tickets were gone, leaving only tickets in high expense left.
While the sport prices vary, and there’s no list let out, the popular event prices have been let out by the people’s voices. Popular events such as swimming cost roughly $1,100 dollars per ticket, gymnastics was reported at $3,000 dollars, tennis began at $520 per person, and golf started at $500 dollars.
Additionally, access to main events such as the opening and closing ceremonies were leaning upwards of $5000 dollars. And with every purchase, many found an additional 24% service fee that goes to customer service during the times of the games.
Naturally, these ticket prices have caused chaos and upset residents as they didn’t expect such high prices, leaving several interviews that have come out since the sale. From The Guardian, an interview with Kathy Dorn was published in which the article said, “She wanted to go to a swimming event but decided against it when she saw the price tag. “I didn’t want to spend $558 per ticket for a two-hour event,” she added.” Dorn then claimed how disappointing it was to see how high these prices were, as she just wanted to watch her country play.
CBS LA has also come out with their own news video with interviews from the people of LA. Tracy Dworsky has said “I wasn’t expecting the tickets to be inexpensive, I wasn’t that naive, but after looking at every event, I quickly saw each ticket was hundreds of dollars per person.” Dworsky says how disappointing it is for those who live just blocks away from the site, but won’t be able to go because of how pricey the tickets are.
Another resident from Inglewood, Alana Davidson, is worried that they’ll only get the trash, traffic, and chaos of the global event, but no perks. She claims that her statement of unfairness is agreed upon by many other locals who also cannot afford the Olympic tickets.
Mr. Martin, another Inglewood local, has said “It would be nice for us locals to get a bit of a break, and get easier access to tickets, so we can go watch ourselves.”
So Mesa Nation, after hearing just how expensive it is to watch your favorite sport, what do you think, do you agree with these locals about the prices? Or do you think they are fair since they’re tied with the rarity and prestige of the Olympic games? Let us know.
