#L2012DAYS - Goodnight, & goodbye

Firstly, this is the last #L2012Days post as it is the last of my self-ordained twelve days of Olympic Christmas!  I want to thank everyone who has tuned in, read the posts, commented and shared across all channels.  I am extremely blessed to have real and virtual chums like you guys.

I have written a lot about the London Olympics for the past 18 months, and maybe come next July I will do a bit more to reflect, but now seems the right time to review one last time and move on to the challenges and promise of 2013 and beyond. 

Twenty years ago, in a council flat in Southend, I watched - on the telly - Rebollo light the Olympic cauldron in Barcelona.  My love affair with the Olympics began, and while it waned at times over the proceeding years, when 2005 and Singapore happened, a personal dream became a reality.  And so, from that maisonette by the seaside, two decades later I was sat in row 73 of the Olympic Stadium in E20, London.  The town I was born in.  I saw the cauldron lit before my own eyes.  And so the love affair started all over again.  Quite possibly for keeps.

Will I go to Rio?  I certainly hope so.  For now, the aim will be Glasgow in a little over 18 months..!

I want to thank the #2012Tweeps for all their help and support in getting tickets for the Games, and supporting me personally with my many scribbled endeavours.  In particular, the ‘brain-trust’: @Volshy, @2012Tweeps, @Matt_Shoreditch and @nmdouglas.

I also want to extend a personal thanks to the #2012Tweeps who directly helped me and friends/family secure tickets: @Hilts_uk, @CarolynB66, @Jamjaw, @KBKeane, @Moosola, @IamFlopIt, @PaddyJim, @QuickDrewster, @Matthew_Gabb, @IanDay2, @Schorty1.  And Conrad Readman - who’s gone, but will never be forgotten.

Finally, I want to thank anyone who’s ever read, shared, commented on any of my witterings.  And to all who have indulged my obsession.  Your input and encouragement has brought a some-time writer back from the very brink of extinction.  And if that isn’t legacy, then I don’t know what is.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year.  2012 will be a year never to be repeated.  And, let’s face it, 2013 is going to stink in comparison to it.  But to roll out that well-trailed line used in the summer from Dr. Seuss… “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

Citius, Altius, Fortius.  Until next time…


S.

The 2012 ticket race - Hope burns bright

Hello reader.  It’s been a while since I visited this subject, partly due to the minor inconvenience that is daily life, but moreover because the ticket hunt has diversified massively since my last proper dispatch in January.

It’s been nearly a year since the original LOCOG ballot was completed and people up-and-down the land learnt if they were going to the Games.  For many following that moment, they took a path of higher pursuit and challenge - to the victor, the spoils… and such.  For the rest, today’s official third round sale from LOCOG brings the ticket hunt back round full-circle.

And with 77 days left to the start of the London Games, opportunities to buy tickets are becoming both plentiful and challenging.

The Olympic Flame has now been lit in Greece, and will be on British soil in the next week.  To many observers the much anticipated fillip of enthusiasm for London 2012 will come with the Torch Relay.  So what can you do to maximise your chances of scoring some vital tickets before July..?



Unpicking LOCOG

There is plenty of material out there, especially on the official ticket website itself to explain the actual process, but in summary Round 3 will focus on two key groups:

  • The 20,000 who missed out on getting tickets in the first round ballot, and subsequent second round live sale.  These guys will get the first dibs from 11am, 11/5.
  • The remaining (estimated) one million applicants who tried and failed in the first round ballot but who didn’t come back for Round 2.  This group can join in the search from 11am, 13/5.

There is an understandable logic which suggests that most of the top tickets will be hoovered up by the ‘unlucky’ 20k in the first sale, but the heavily permutated sale procedure points to a lot of good tickets being left over for the second group - who in turn could leave some gems for all other interested parties when the general sale opens on 23/5.

How so?  Note this line from the ticketing guidelines:

“Only one transaction (a maximum of four tickets in one session) can be completed by each applicant during the presale period.”

This implies that for many buyers, they will have to make a difficult choice between either going for the Opening Ceremony versus the Men’s 100m Final in Athletics - as an example.  And this ruling applies to the second group as well.

Furthermore, the contingency ticketing numbers give a broad-brush picture of availability, but it would be naive in the extreme to assume that all 5000 Opening Ceremony tickets will be at lower category bands.  Eligible parties will have to make decisions based on their preference, and their wallet.

What this ultimately means is that notionally, the idea of only Football tickets being left for the general sale feels very wide of the mark: it is highly plausible that Athletics, Track Cycling and Swimming (albeit in the higher categories) could be left.  LOCOG and Ticketmaster may yet have devised a scheme that addresses the technical issues, gets a wide cross-section of interested parties to the Games and yet be fair to all groups of applicants.

And this is the Olympics.  There are only so many times one can have a false start before being disqualified…


The state of play, RIGHT NOW

European ATRs have, to use an American colloquialism, ‘blown-up’ in recent weeks and months, with the French, Belgian, Dutch and German resellers all having major sales.  At this stage many are looking to wipe their proverbial surfaces clean in preparation of processing and dispatching tickets to buyers in June.  This has created a tricky vacuum of waiting and seeing.  But, should you want to move quickly…

Germany (Dertour): At the end of April they had a spectacular dump of tickets including the largest FCFS sale of Track Cycling tickets seen to date.  While the prime tickets have gone, many remain including Badminton, Diving, Volleyball and Boxing.

Holland (ATP): Had a well publicised sale at the top of April; the site now has the remainders left, including some Hockey and Rowing.

France (FNAC/Eventeam): The much maligned Eventeam finally partnered with a proper webshop partner in FNAC to start selling their tranche of tickets outside of packages.  Prime stuff has gone to date, but plenty of tickets available for the likes of Handball, Canoe Slalom and Mountain Bike Cycling among others.

Denmark/EEA (Sportsworld): Very much applicable if you’re reading this on May 11 before 10am, but the brilliant UK-based, global-serving ATR will be shedding a load of their remaining allocation including BMX Cycling, Tennis and Basketball.

GB/EEA (Thomas Cook): the official Break Provider of London 2012 continues to offer a variety of ticket and hotel packages, including offers with Swimming and Athletics tickets.  They are expected to release more sessions with hotel combinations in the run-up to the Games.

The Olympic Stadium, Stratford, London

To the future

For avid ticket-hunters, like the incomparable 2012Tweeps, every sale feels like it’s the last one, yet the overall chase has continued to show that more opportunities emerge and present themselves.  Much is unknown about how leftover tickets both on the LOCOG, and ATR side, will be sold at Games time.  Many live ATRs are relying on buyer panic to resort to ‘blinking first‘ and paying high prices for additional (and often unwanted) hospitality and hotel deals.

This is likely to transition, and resellers such as CoSport and the recent Viagogo/Ariesta partnership in Spain will be ones to watch over the next month or two.

Darker horse ATRs, such as Baltic Clipper in Lithuania are planning their own sales of remaining tickets in the weeks ahead and the landscape as a whole is shifting at quite a pace.

Buyers need to remain discerning and patient, using popular channels and resources to gather intelligence on upcoming sales.  There are still plenty of tickets out there, and the fact that LOCOG are now back on the case selling their own tickets may just force some dormant European ATRs into a final frenzy of competition for sales.


Don’t forget the Paralympics!

In the midst of all the Olympic ticket announcements, the sale for all the remaining Paralympic tickets commences on 21/5.  This will be a fantastic sale which should bring many Athletics and Swimming finals tickets back into play, along with some well-priced Ceremony tickets.  The recent test events at the Olympic Park have shown the public and press alike the power of the Paralympic movement and the depth of quality and talent leading nations possess. 

The Paralympics remain a great opportunity to see top class sport at very reasonable prices in what will be the swan song for the Marshgate Lane site as we know it in 2012.

Paralympic Athletics

Read more about me and London 2012.

SPORTO! 18/2/2012

Verifying the Velodrome

At face value, watching Track Cycling is - in the same way that folk say football is a game of grown men chasing a ball - a sport where grown men and women ride around in circles for a bit.  That is of course a brutal assessment.  For many decamping in the East end of London on Friday, attending the Track World Cup event at the Olympic Velodrome was their first taste of Track Cycling.  And while they may have entered as cynics, very few would have left unconverted to the sheer fever of the sport.

Track Cycling has tremendous support in Britain today.  Chris Boardman, and his magical Lotus bike perhaps ignited the modern love affair with the sport in Barcelona ’92.  Fast forward twenty years, and stars of the sport such as Chris Hoy (who through his exploits in Beijing became a Knight of the Realm no less) and Victoria Pendleton are household names.  Curiously, cycling en masse is tapping away at the second tier of popular sports in the country; Track aside, Mark Cavendish’s wins over the last eighteen months has moved Road Cycling into new heights of popularity.  In having a summer Olympics in your own backyard there is a very timely fillip to boost interest and engender even more goodwill with an eager nation of sports fans.

Attending the finals night on the Friday, I witnessed several fantastic races involving Britons, with World Records being smashed and Golds being won.  The UCI-endorsed World Cup series plays a significant part of the Track Cycling calendar, but like most people attending I was here as much to see and be part of the magnificent Velodrome.  It is undoubtedly the most striking venue of all on the London 2012 Olympic Park.

Nicknamed the ‘Pringle’ (owing to the roof’s shape being similar to the popular, sometimes moreish snack), it is a dazzling array of Siberian pine and lights.  It is a wonderfully intimate and accessible cathedral of sport.  And here’s the best bit: there is not one bad seat in the house.  For those fortunate to have higher category seats for the Olympics or Paralympics, you are going to be able to touch the riders (almost); for those sat in the proverbial heavens, you’ll have a fantastic view of the action and enjoy the incredible acoustics.

Pendleton was quoted on Friday after her win as saying “It is unbelievable, the crowd just roared… I was shaking on my bike”, and that is not flattering talk.  As her and Jess Varnish powered through the straights, the crowd noise was eminent in its strength and support.  Even with Hoy, Kenny and Edgar racing for a Bronze, the noise and the passion did not let up.  And in true Olympic spirit, when it was announced Ugandan rider Patrick Lawino was based in London ahead of his race, the crowd took him in as one of their own.  It was a fantastic moment, which spoke much about the support of true British Olympic fans ahead of the Games.

British Cycling is in rude health, and you can see why tickets for the event are amongst the very hardest to get hold of for the Olympics.  Dave Brailsford and his team have created legacy and longevity within the group.  Matt Crampton rode very well in the 1km TT and Laura Trott looks certain to assume Pendleton’s mantle of media darling (either that, or I’m a sucker for a cockney accent and big eyes).  There’s much to admire about the group and their future, and the sport deserves a much greater share of coverage in the broader media.  The BBC have been covering the evenings here, and maybe Track could be an heir apparent to the hole left by F1.  

One hopes as many Team GB fans as possible get hold of tickets for London 2012 - as one user mentioned on Twitter last night, there is a fear that the partisan numbers could be lost as sponsor and IOC delegate numbers in attendance swell.  It’s bitter-sweet for the organisers knowing that the Velodrome could be twice the size (it’s currently 6000) and still be a complete sell-out.  This much is certain: anyone with tickets now should consider themselves extremely lucky, following the reception to the test event.  It was heartening too to note the enthusiasm and professionalism of all the support staff and security manning both the venue and transport around the Olympic Park.  Uses too of Social Media at the event itself was a very good touch and an interesting precursor to coverage ahead of Games time.

I Tweeted at the end of the night that as far as hype goes, people should believe it when it comes to the Velodrome.  The venue is a staggering achievement and a testimony to the brilliant sport it is now home to.  The road to London 2012 is increasingly homeward-bound and straight.  And on tonight’s evidence the British public - the real fans and supporters - are ready for it.

TWC London - Pendleton & Varnish win Gold and smash the World Record from Sri Sritharan on Vimeo.

Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish set a new world best of 32.754 seconds as they beat Kaarle McCulloch and Anna Meares of Australia in the team sprint.

Shot on an iPhone 4 at the Olympic Velodrome, London. Friday, 17 February 2012.

Read more about me and London 2012.

The 2012 ticket race - nearing the home straight… HEAT 2

Since the ‘first heat’ on Thursday, Resale has been and subsequently closed.  While the recriminations will play out over the weekend and early next week, for the periods it was open expectations were both met - and slightly surpassed.

While it was no surprise to see top-end tickets put up for sale (i.e. Cat AA and A), the smattering of C and D categories available, especially for much sought-after events like Track Cycling and Swimming was a real surprise.  One can only hope that after Ticketmaster have resolved their problems this trend will continue.


GETTING FRIENDS & FAMILY TO THE GAMES

An increasingly prominent story in various press outlets is around how owners of tickets can share their allocation with friends and family, especially if they cannot attend.  In reality, many of the tickets in circulation will end up in the hands of friends and loved-ones of buyers.  Without question many people would have got tickets over the Christmas period as gifts.

There is a natural unease about the feasibility of passing tickets on, given LOCOG’s intended stance on touts and illegal ticket sales.

However, between the likes of Paul Deighton (Chief Executive of LOCOG) and various figures at the Metropolitan Police, it seems certain that if ticket owners manage their allocations in good faith, there shouldn’t be problems in the event that they do not attend.

It is likely that in the event of unusual activity (a possible example is a large group of people all attending the same block or row of a venue - a classic tell of a tout sale), the named ticket owner will need to be on-hand for a quick check via telephone.

Throw in the need for security checks at venues along with transport considerations, and the likely outcome will be quick entry into venues.


DEALING WITH ATRs

ATR = Authorised Ticket Reseller

While many people chose to stamp their feet and scream blue murder at LOCOG after the the first and second official ticket sales in the UK last year (and now Resale) - a relatively silent contingent went about exploring the legitimacy of Olympic ticket sales on a global stage.

There are 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) around the world.  Each committee, with every Olympic and Paralympic games is entitled to an allocation of tickets to sell in their respective territory.  Several NOCs will partner with one large service provider who can handle all the technology and communications with customers (CoSport and Kingdom Sports are two prime examples).  Other NOCs will appoint local agents to work with in order to get tickets sold.

These agents and providers are what are known as ATRs.  Different ATRs sell to different territories with different allocations depending on the associated NOC’s size and Olympic pedigree.  In most cases, sales are restricted to national boundaries - that is, a resident Briton cannot buy tickets directly from the Sri Lankan ATR, as an example.

But Europe (yep, that wretched despot that we should all be out of…) has offered different rules.  Being part of the European Union has meant that while several of our cousins have been able to buy tickets through the UK sale, UK residents have been able in turn to get tickets from a variety of European ATRs.  And not just non-event tickets - from Athletics to Wrestling, to Swimming, Judo and Rowing there have many success stories.

Many ATRs concluded their sales in 2011, and are unlikely to offer more tickets before the Games start.  However, a lot of ATR business is centred around package sales (i.e. flights, hotels and tickets).  It’s entirely plausible as Games time approaches - and if there are no takers - that unsold packages will be dismantled and tickets placed on general sale.

It can seem daunting to the uninitiated, especially as some of the European ATRs don’t have ‘friendly’ web interfaces that some may be used to back home - and other ATRs don’t have their websites in English which can be a source of total fear.  But Google Translate and the heart of Derek Redmond should see you on the path to Olympic glory.  You do not need to be a techie or have six languages to look around and see what the approved European ATRs have in store.  Many before you have, and succeeded.


LOOKING TO LOCOG 3… AND 4?

Whilst the Synchronised Swimming saga dominated domestic headlines earlier in the week, the sub-plot to LOCOG’s actions centres around how many of the mooted one million tickets planned for sale in LOCOG 3 (i.e. their third official sale, planned for April) will have been lost to the compensation program offered to those affected.

Of a million or tickets, there won’t be a huge dent.  But clearly some prime sports and events will be impacted in terms of their availability.  Interestingly, several sources confirmed that events such as Swimming, Athletics, Diving, Beach Volleyball, Gymnastics, Hockey and Basketball were offered in the exchange deals - suggesting they are all prime areas of focus in LOCOG 3.

Given that the premise of the third sale is centred around the finalising of venue configuration and capacity, it seems unlikely all of the tickets will go on sale at the same time.  By April, the London Prepares series (the official test program for London 2012) would have seen events completed at the Velodrome, Aquatics Centre, Basketball and Handball Arenas among others.  But, the Olympic Stadium, Hockey Centre and Water Polo Arena will not see test events until May.

Given the need to create fervour and excitement in the final rundown to the main event, coupled with the fact that a number of test events will not start until May, it seems probable that there will be a fourth LOCOG sale, encompassing the very last dregs rechieved back from ATRs and sponsors, the leftovers from LOCOG 3 and the confirmed numbers for Athletics, Water Polo and Hockey.  All speculation at this stage, but worth thinking about in the broader context of the race.

Read more about me and London 2012.