Diving fans off the deep end over scheduling

Medal round tickets changed months after buyers paid for coveted seats to Games

Anne Huang should be a Pan Am Games organizers’ dream.

She bought tickets for seven events, from BMX to gymnastics, for her husband and two children.

She combed through event schedule PDFs, cross referenced with her family’s schedule and assembled spreadsheets before the ticket lottery opened. She worked from home that September day to secure spots.

But instead of watching divers win gold, silver and bronze on July 12, Huang and her family will have to settle for the preliminary round of men’s 10-metre platform diving that took over the 2 p.m. time slot.

The scheduling switch has her and other eager ticket-buyers feeling underappreciated, especially given recent news about lacklustre ticket sales. More than two-thirds of tickets are still available, according to the most recent count.

Diving ticket holders were automatically refunded for the price difference and given the option for a full refund.

Organizers were vague on details but told the Star the change resulted from a review of the sport schedule that determined two fewer medal sessions were required, Games spokesman Teddy Katz said in an email.

Though sympathetic to the pressures on organizers, Huang is disappointed by the approach to eager fans. “They didn’t take the fans’ experience into account,” she said.

Ticketmaster notified ticket holders of the change Wednesday. It was the first Alexandra Philbrook heard from the agency since her credit card was charged in November.

Having reserved tickets for her two young children, both swimmers, and her husband in September, she was angry. “I followed their rules. I played their game,” she told the Star.

Games organizers said the majority of people in Philbrook and Huang’s position have decided to keep their tickets.

This isn’t the first time a Pan Am event schedule has changed; tennis, fencing, cycling, rhythmic gymnastics and racquetball events have all been rearranged.

Requests from sports federations and attempts to accommodate top athletes can lead to schedule changes, Katz said.

“We did make it clear that the sport schedule is subject to change both now and during the Games,” he added. “Having said that, we always do our best to minimize changes because we want to make the experience the best possible for spectators.”