Empty Seats at Olympics Sponsors’ Fault?

Written by: Staff on 30th July 2012

Empty Seats at Olympics Sponsors’ Fault?

epa03326957 Empty seats with few spectators during the London 2012 Olympic Games Tennis competition in Wimbledon, Greater London, Britain, 30 July 2012. EPA/ANDY RAIN EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Olympic organizers are already under heat as TV images showing half-empty stands in London, including at Wimbledon, has stunned some observers.

Olympic organizers are denying that the reason for this is sponsors who are allocated tickets aren’t using them, but Olympic Chairman Sebastian Coe said that he would name officials and sponsors who are not using their allotted tickets if they don’t show up to fill their seats. There have been seats in prime positions on the courts of Wimbledon that have been empty.

Culture Minister Jeremy Hunt had told reporters that he thought that it was the sponsors who were to blame. He told the BBC that the empty seats were “very disappointing.”

“I was at the Beijing Games, in 2008, and one of the lessons that we took away from that, is that full stadia create the best atmosphere, it’s best for the athletes, it’s more fun for the spectators, it’s been an absolute priority,” he said. “The organizing committee] is doing a full investigation into what happened, I think it was accredited seats that belonged to sponsors, but if they’re not going to turn up, we want those tickets to be available for members of the public, because that creates the best atmosphere.”

Coe, countered that it didn’t appear to be a sponsorship issue on a day in which Visa, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola issued statements saying that their allocated tickets will be used. “There are tens of thousands of people at the moment within the accredited family who are trying to figure out what their day looks like,” Coe said. “I don’t think this is going to be an issue, certainly it’s not going to be an issue right through the Games.”

Organizers say that only eight percent of allocated tickets go to big sponsors and that 75 percent of tickets are in the hands of the public.

Apparently the ballot system for the 8.8 million tickets is complicated and has left numerous fans without tickets. There have been reports that with just two weeks to go before the Games that some half a million tickets were left unsold.

British Olympic Association Chairman Colin Moynihan did offer that they might be able to employ a 30-minute rule whereby fans would be allowed to take up vacant seats if spectators were late or did not arrive.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

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