Games tickets bonanza

Organisers muster up 300,000 popular passes

MANY of the Commonwealth Games’ biggest events are no longer sold-out – for now.

Games bosses have identified an extra 100,000 tickets to events that were oversubscribed in the initial request phase and will release them as part of the final major offering of tickets next week.

They include seats at prestige events including the Opening Ceremony, basketball finals, beach volleyball, cycling and diving. The tickets are the result of GOLDOC identifying as many additional seats as possible through the completion of venue seating plans, temporary structures and television camera positions, along with those returned to the general ticket sales pool from Games partners.

Another 200,000 tickets that went unsold during previous releases will also be part of the final release.

“We were so overwhelmed by the initial call to purchase that we’ve done as much as we can … to find more seats,” GOLDOC chief executive Mark Peters said.

“We will have a lot of happy people and a lot of disappointed people because we know there’s going to be a rush.

“It’s not about subscribing anymore and going on a reserve list. You go online, buy the ticket and as soon as (the allocation) is exhausted, it will close.”

Mr Peters said the tickets included those returned by Gold Coast City Council, which came under fire in July after securing hundreds of tickets for councillors at ratepayer expense.

“Every possible avenue we’ve had to pick tickets up and put them into the central pool has happened,” he said.

About 900,000 tickets have been sold since the request phase began in April, with Mr Peters confident all events will be sold out come April.

“Our expectation is that we will sell (all) 1.2 million tickets,” he said.

“Am I going to put my life on it? No, because there might be five seats available in the back of the wrestling.

“A month out from the Games there will still be a few thousand tickets around but we know they will go as people get more excited.

“To sell 900,000 tickets this far out from the Games ... is phenomenal.”