Organisers of future major sporting events have been urged to learn lessons from the Olympics after a new London Assembly report found many Londoners were priced out of the games.
The report, The Price of Gold, says the average price to see Mo Farah win gold in the men’s 5,000 metres was £333 while 58 per cent of people who bought a ticket for the Men’s 100m final paid more than £294 each.
Organisers of the 2015 European field hockey championships, 2017 Athletics world championships and 2017 Paralympic athletics world championships, all of which are due to be hosted in London, are urged to ensure their events are affordable to Londoners of all income levels.
Recommendations include ensuring ticketing arrangements are transparent, making a pledge on the minimum number of affordable tickets for medal sessions and allocating a minimum proportion of public tickets for each session.
The Assembly’s Economy Committee, which drew up the report, will also share its findings with the organisers of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio.
Committee Chair Andrew Dismore AM says: “The 2012 Games were a fantastic spectacle and London should be proud of staging a hugely successful Olympics and Paralympic Games.
“However, for many ordinary people, the lack of available affordable tickets for certain sessions meant there was little chance of them being in the crowd to see their sporting heroes win gold. Given that ticket sales massively exceeded their target, this was a missed opportunity to reward those taxpayers who funded the Games and inspire a generation to participate in sport.
“We must learn the lessons from London Olympics and Paralympics if we are to host future sporting championships successfully and build on the amazing public support and goodwill demonstrated during the summer of 2012.”
