Buzz around Tokyo’s 2020 Olympics intensifies
TOKYO — Despite scandals, rising costs and doubts about the economic payoff, the Tokyo Olympics will be a must-see event — if you can find a ticket or a hotel room — when they open in a year.
Tokyo was supposed to be a “safe pair of hands” after Rio de Janeiro’s corruption and near-meltdown three years ago.
Mostly, it has been. Local sponsorship revenue has passed $3 billion, about three times more than any previous games, driven by Japan’s giant advertising and marketing company Dentsu Inc., the exclusive marketing agency for the Tokyo Games caught in a French probe into alleged vote-buying connected with Tokyo winning the 2020 Olympics.
Ticket demand is unprecedented and few Japanese can even get them. Estimates suggest up to 90% of Japan residents who applied were unsuccessful in the first phase of a ticket lottery in June. Tickets prices are sure to soar with scalping a certainty, though Japan just passed a law banning the practice.
“This is probably going to be the most popular Olympics, and possibly one of the most popular events of all time,” Ken Hanscom told The Associated Press. He follows ticketing around the globe as the chief operating officer of Los Angeles-based TicketManager.
Organizers have quickly thrown together a so-called second-chance lottery in August, and have another lottery set for later in the year. But this will not change the reality: Demand exceeds supply in Japan by at least 10 times. And it’s a similar story for buyers outside Japan.
Tomizawa, whose father was a producer for NBC News at the ‘64 Olympics, said the “measured demeanor” of the Japanese hides their Olympic enthusiasm. There are great expectations. Japan is shooting for a record 30 gold medals, almost twice the previous best of 16 in Tokyo.
This is also the second of three straight Olympics in Asia, another factor driving interest.
The Olympics will be simply a sideshow for some Tokyo visitors, astounded by the cleanliness, courtesy and order. Japan’s sprawling capital is a dense mix of the traditional and eccentric where bowing meets bustle. Small shrines or temples nestle alongside gleaming towers, passengers wedge silently into commuter trains and pedestrians meander through a labyrinth of alleyways, always lined with places to eat and drink.