1m tickets already sold for 2022 Games in city
MORE than a million Commonwealth Games tickets have been sold already, and organisers are confident of selling the remaining half a million before the events begin in July.
Ian Reid, chief executive for the Birmingham 2022 Games, said tickets were selling faster than they did in 2014, the last time the UK hosted the Games, when they were held in Glasgow.
There are just over five months to go until Birmingham and the West Midlands welcome athletes from 72 different nations and territories, for what is thought to be the biggest event the region has ever seen.
Mr Reid said the region would be ready. He said: “It looks good at the moment. We are in good shape.”
The Games includes two major capital projects – the refurbishment of the Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr and the construction of the new Aquatics Centre in Smethwick, and these are both “in the final stages of delivery, on time and on budget.”
Mr Reid said: “There is still a lot to do and we certainly can’t take our eye off the ball. We will have a workforce
– including volunteers and contractors – of around 45,000 people working in the Games. It’s almost like putting 19 world championships of sports on at the same time. Obviously that puts a huge stress on the city and the wider region, but it’s a huge platform to celebrate as well.
“We have already sold over one million tickets, and we hope that we will be sold out, which takes us up to somewhere around one and half million tickets for the sports.”
Millions of people were expected to watch or in some way take part in the six-month cultural festival that
accompanies the Games, he said.
“That gives you a sense of scale and why we say this is probably the biggest event that will come to the region for a generation.”
The Commonwealth Games will bring together more than 6,500 athletes who will take part in 19 different sports. The opening ceremony will be held on Thursday, July 28 while the closing ceremony will take place on Monday, August 8.
Although Birmingham and the West Midlands have staged major events in the past, these Games will be the largest event to be held in the region.
Mr Reid, a chartered accountant by training, leads the organising committee for the Games, which is responsible for the event itself and the cultural festival that surrounds it.
His ultimate boss is the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), but the Games committee is working closely with Birmingham City Council, other local authorities and the West Midlands Combined Authority.
Tickets were initially distributed via a lottery system, but the remaining tickets are available to buy directly.
Popular sports in low capacity venues, such as swimming events in the Aquatics Centre, have sold out, but there are tickets for events in larger venues, such as the Rugby sevens in Coventry, netball at the NEC, and women’s cricket to be held at the cricket ground in Edgbaston.
Tickets are now available directly rather than a lottery.
The Glasgow games sold 96% of their tickets, said Mr Reid, “but we are actually tacking in Birmingham a little bit ahead of where they were at the same time.