Free tickets will fix this farce quick
IF a high jump bar falls to the ground and there is no one in the 46,900capacity stadium to hear it, does it still make that heart-breaking clanging sound? Asking for a friend at the International Olympic Committee.
Goodness, all at the IOC must be thanking the Sweet Lords of Olympus that crowds befitting that description finally turned up for some of the weekend athletics sessions.
Because, before the Usain Bolt effect electrified the Brazilian public, absent fans and empty seats had been two of the more worrying themes of a summer Games not without its problems.
Now, assuming the global overlords of the Olympic movement actually care about the local populace so inconvenienced by the arrival of the world’s finest athletes (and some dressage riders and shooters), there are ways to solve this glaring problem.
There are even, dare we say it, a couple of guaranteed methods to ensure full houses and earthshaking roars of appreciation for competitors who, having worked so hard to reach the big stage, deserve to be supported and applauded from the dress circle to the cheap seats.
Best idea? Free tickets. For every event. High-demand sessions can be allocated by lottery, no different to the current system except you don’t run the risk of your credit card melting, while less appealing attractions can take as long as they like to get rid of every single spot in the venue.
And, if the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe can operate temporary box offices matching up customers to shows in a heartbeat, the ‘Olympic park’ of any host city should find it just as feasible to squeeze in a central site where punters could just stroll up and take their chances.
‘Two adults and three kids looking for something this afternoon, sir? Sure, there’s judo just starting or, if you’re willing to travel a bit, there’s a free bus heading to the windsurfing in about 15 minutes…’
According to the IOC’s own accounts, ticket sales make up a measly five per cent of revenue during an Olympic cycle. Five per cent. If they’re telling us they couldn’t afford to lose that from their income streams, then somebody hasn’t been mending the roof while the sun has been blazing away.
The vast majority of revenue comes from not only those Olympic ‘partners’ who pay so much to push their super-sized fast food meals, teeth-rotting cola, watches, cars and easy credit — all in conjunction with the original ideals of higher, faster, stronger, flabbier, more debt-laden — but the sale of broadcast rights around the globe.
Surely the TV people would prefer to see full venues providing a colourful backdrop to moments destined to live long in the memory. Moments that are costing them billions before they’ve even assembled a studio on Copacabana Beach.
Yes, more than half the tickets for events at Rio already cost around £15 — about half the lowest price in London, a Games without equal in terms of public enthusiasm. But, if you wouldn’t actually have to pay people to watch archery, inviting them in for free might just work.
And, really, given the huge spread of unfamiliar sports and venues, on top of a faltering Brazilian economy, charging 300 quid a head for some events seems like a deliberate attempt to keep people away. Whoever made that call could get a job in Scottish football…
On the subject of the beautiful game, can it be right that even the Brazilian national team — playing at home in a country where they genuinely care about Olympic football — couldn’t sell out their games? For ignoring that warning klaxon, the local organising committee deserve to be sent to work in Russia’s new WADA-approved anti-doping lab. In Siberia.
Every empty seat should be an embarrassment to those entrusted with the duty of spreading the gospel of sport across the planet. You never get the impression that they are in the least bit perturbed.
Of course, what the IOC should really do is scale back on the size of the Games, cutting — not forever adding — the number of sports so that smaller, less wealthy, cities can think about bidding. Never going to happen.
But at least presenting the Games as a gift to a host city/ country and its people, welcoming them into venues with open arms and a two-for-one offer at the snack bar would minimise those ugly shots of unoccupied acreage.
Then again, with tech-savvy Tokyo up next in 2020 and movie-centric LA considering a bid for 2024, maybe attendances won’t matter a fig. Sure, with a bit of CGI trickery, every venue can look full to the armchair fan, while a combination of clever lighting and tiny speakers emanating individual cheering noises will even fool the athletes into thinking they’re being cheered on by 70,000 people.