'It still stings': 18 people reveal how much they paid for LA28 Olympics tickets

If you’re hoping to nab tickets to the LA28 Olympics successful the 2nd driblet coming successful August, you mightiness privation to brace yourself. Last month, erstwhile radical logged connected to acquisition tickets successful the archetypal locals presale, galore experienced a roller coaster of emotions: excitement, anxiety, surprise, vexation and disappointment by the precocious prices and deficiency of availability to fashionable events.

While immoderate fans were fortunate capable to nab $28 tickets, others begrudgingly spent much than they budgeted. Some pivoted altogether and bought tickets for events they were lone marginally funny successful alternatively than their desired sport.

To assistance aboriginal summons buyers hole their budgets — and due to the fact that we’re conscionable plain funny — we asked readers however overmuch they actually spent connected Olympics tickets during the archetypal drop. Here, 18 radical stock their experiences, from navigating the website to the (estimated) prices they paid, on with what attending LA28 means to them.

Responses person been lightly edited for magnitude and clarity.

Ticket buyer: Sylvia Crump of Los Angeles

Events: Men’s h2o polo, women’s diving semifinal, mixed swimming finals and mixed athletics finals

Thoughts: “I went to the Games successful Atlanta successful 1996 and Rio de Janeiro successful 2016. This volition beryllium my archetypal Olympics wherever I person big income and don’t person kids (a.k.a. disposable income). I americium precise excited. Seeing the women’s gymnastics squad oregon all-around finals has been a imagination of excavation since 1996 and I americium prepared to walk treble the highest look marketplace worth to execute that dream.”

Ticket buyer: Ken Hofeldt of La Verne

Events: Women’s preliminary volleyball and men’s upland biking final

Thoughts: “It sounds similar we were 1 of the fortunate families. We purchased 7 tickets to women’s preliminary volleyball to hopefully animate my girl who presently plays successful mediate school, and 5 tickets to the men’s upland biking final. I upland motorcycle connected weekends and americium passionate astir the sport. For maine personally, conscionable being capable to ticker and cheer our champion upland bikers successful the satellite on, successful the venue I commute past frequently, is special. If Christopher Blevins wins a medal, it volition beryllium adjacent much special.”

Ticket buyer: Marlena Kaplan of Venice

Events: Boxing, fencing men’s final, men’s baseball, way and field

Thoughts: “I was disappointed the tickets were truthful expensive. I expected they would beryllium successful the $50 range. I americium a large instrumentality of the Olympics, but person ne'er attended truthful I decided it’s worthy it to person guaranteed entry. I fearfulness the tickets volition beryllium cheaper connected resale, but I didn’t privation to miss the accidental and I person the means. I deliberation the summons prices are unfair for locals that don’t person the fiscal quality to [purchase them].”

Ticket buyer: Katie Best

Events: Rugby

Thoughts: “I really had a precise palmy archetypal drop. All my friends and household got clip slots. Collectively, we bought 74 tickets to tons of antithetic sports. A batch of the biggest events were sold retired oregon retired of our terms range. We’re precise excited for our events including BMX freestyle, synchronized swimming, trampoline gymnastics, men’s and women’s basketball, array tennis, rugby, lacrosse, formation volleyball, handball, archery and athletics. We’re hoping for BMX racing, precocious diving and fencing successful driblet two.”

Ticket buyer: Cheryl Leff of Sherman Oaks

Events: 3x3 hoops preliminary and shot preliminary

Thoughts: “I volunteered astatine the 1984 Games and was assigned a spot connected the 10 Freeway during the marathon. I inactive person the T-shirt and immoderate of the flags I was fixed to question arsenic the athletes passed by. In the days of nary cellphones, I person small grounds of my experience, but callback being amazed arsenic the runners passed maine connected an bare Los Angeles freeway. It was benignant of surreal. It was beauteous shocking to spot the prices for the ‘premium’ events. I was not consenting to walk $5,000 for a spot to closing ceremonies.”

Ticket buyer: Alec Mackie of Los Angeles

Events: Men’s shot golden medal finals, women’s hoops golden medal finals, men’s shot golden medal finals, swimming preliminary and tennis 4th last mixed doubles

Thoughts: ”My uncle made a spreadsheet. The tickets are for me, my uncle, friends and I’m hoping to instrumentality my nephew arsenic well. I was 10 years aged astatine the 1984 Olympics and got to spell to gymnastics, swimming and closing ceremonies, and my nephew volition beryllium 10 successful 2028. I cognize L.A. is going to person an astonishing Olympics, we are Los Angeles! Ten cardinal creative, beauteous people, ever dreaming and we cognize however to wow people. I can’t hold and hopefully postulation is smooth, a glamorous sequel to ’84.”

Ticket buyer: Brenda Power of Austin

Events: Men’s hoops 3x3, women’s volleyball and way and tract (including a hospitality package)

Thoughts: “I bought tickets for my husband, 4 friends and myself, truthful a full of six of us. I was not excessively surprised, but astir gagged erstwhile $28-$100 tickets were advertised, but the world was really a batch more. We were blessed to get thing during our selected clip slot, but past we discovered the hospitality packages and added the aboriginal events. I’m truthful excited to be what I see to beryllium a once-in-a-lifetime event. I’m 47. The adjacent clip they travel to the U.S., I’ll astir apt beryllium 80, truthful it’s once-in-a-lifetime for me. I was screaming successful my car erstwhile we got our archetypal batch of tickets, ‘We’re going to the Olympics!’ I genuinely can’t wait.”

Ticket buyer: Doug Burzynski of La Crescenta

Events: ATH11 Athletics (track & field) mixed final

Thoughts: “I was genuinely looking guardant to it. It feels similar a once-in-a-lifetime, historical accidental to be the archetypal Los Angeles Olympics successful 44 years. That said, aft seeing the prices and uncovering thing available/affordable for the events I wanted, I was acceptable to locomotion distant without buying tickets. My woman asked however I’d consciousness a mates of years from present if I missed it. That position stuck with me. In the end, a spot of FOMO won retired and I justified the outgo by figuring I’ll amortize implicit the adjacent 2 years. It inactive stings, though.”

Ticket buyer: Deni Budman of Los Angeles

Events: Men’s shot final, women’s fencing last and swimming mixed preliminary

Thoughts: ”When it came down to my clip slot, the tract wouldn’t enactment connected my computer. I tried antithetic browsers, antithetic WiFi networks and restarted it. Nothing worked. Eventually, I got it to enactment connected my phone, but it was specified a panic and I could hardly spot anything, I conscionable threw things successful my cart and hoped for the best. Nonetheless, I can’t hold to spot the full metropolis travel together! I moved to L.A. astatine the extremity of 2020, truthful I consciousness similar my full acquisition present has been watching everyone hole for this experience. I emotion the pomp and circumstance, truthful I cognize it’s conscionable going to beryllium an breathtaking clip each around.”

Ticket buyer: Joe Lyou of Hawthorne

Events: Women’s h2o polo preliminary and swimming mixed preliminary

Thoughts: “I was astounded by the prices. I whitethorn inactive merchantability them connected secondary market. No swimming finals were available. I was precise disappointed. $28 tickets was full B.S. They made maine consciousness similar they were manipulating maine to maximize profits and disregard big assemblage members’ interests and needs. I had nary mode of knowing the existent worth of what I was buying. It created a batch of anxiety. Needlessly. It seems similar the Olympics person a precise bully accidental of being a implicit disaster.”

Ticket buyer: Matthew Scott of Sylmar

Events: Beach volleyball, men’s h2o polo, badminton and women’s tract hockey

Thoughts: ”All of the tickets were $28, which amazed me. I didn’t expect immoderate lowest-tier tickets to beryllium near respective days into the locals presale. My woman present uses a wheelchair truthful we were capable to get a fewer tickets astatine the little tier due to the fact that of this. We’re excited to be immoderate event, but were disappointed that nary of our first-choice events were disposable oregon affordable. I retrieve being truly huffy astatine my parents successful 1984, that they had chosen to permission L.A. for abrogation close arsenic the Games were starting, alternatively of attending. That 7-year-old feels similar he’s yet righting this incorrect from truthful galore years ago.”

Ticket buyer: Joe Leyva of Los Angeles

Events: Artistic gymnastics, including mixed and men’s finals

Thoughts: “I’ve been watching the Olympics since the Atlanta Games successful 1996 erstwhile I was 10 and my sister was 14. We would spell to enactment with our parents and ticker gymnastics connected a tiny TV successful a league country portion they cleaned offices. We watched the Magnificent Seven triumph golden successful Atlanta. Watching NBC’s coverage, particularly the jock stories, had a immense power connected maine and is portion of wherefore I became a video editor.”

Ticket buyer: Dan Corry of Durham

Events: Men’s rugby sevens (semifinal session), women’s hockey preliminaries, shot (bronze medal game), women’s hoops preliminaries, women’s volleyball preliminaries and men’s handball preliminaries

Thoughts: “Compared to what I initially planned to walk ($1,500-$1,800), I was inactive taken aback by immoderate of the prices. I deliberation the LA28 societal media squad truly hammered location the affordable $28 tickets due to the fact that those were agelong gone by the clip I had the accidental to purchase. Swimming was peculiarly egregiously costly and it forced maine to alteration my purchasing program significantly. My friends and co-workers cognize however obsessive I get implicit the Olympics each 2 years (for some the Summer and Winter Games), truthful yet being capable to get to be the top sporting lawsuit successful the satellite successful my location state is thing abbreviated of a imagination travel true. An costly dream, but a imagination nonetheless.”

Ticket buyer: Emmanuel Guzman of Wildomar

Events: Preliminary shot game

Thoughts: As a assemblage student, I couldn’t spend to bargain tickets to astir events. I searched for events that were affordable capable to invitation my parents and brother. Thankfully, my parents and I see shot our favourite sport, and connected that crippled day, we volition beryllium celebrating my brother’s birthday. We are blessed to bask a portion of Olympic past successful L.A. Considering that this is planetary baseball, I expected the terms to beryllium much per ticket. I recognize that this is not a medal-granting game, but it is 1 of the fewer games that volition hap connected a weekend. Regardless, I americium convincing myself it is worthy it.”

Ticket buyer: Daniel Sakai of Long Beach

Events: Men’s hoops preliminary, athletics (track and field) mixed preliminary, creator swimming women’s last and trampoline gymnastics women’s final

Thoughts: “I vividly retrieve the 1984 Olympics successful L.A. Being astatine the Coliseum to witnesser Carl Lewis and Edwin Moses vie successful a way and tract preliminary was a halfway puerility representation for me. I besides retrieve walking down from our location successful Culver City to ticker the marathon. Experiencing 2 Olympic Games successful one’s hometown successful a beingness is simply a uncommon opportunity. I besides wanted to marque definite my woman and girl tin be events that volition supply the aforesaid lasting memories I gained from experiencing the 1984 Olympics.”

Ticket buyer: Claude Daley III of Los Angeles

Events: Badminton, fencing, lacrosse and 1 time of track

Thoughts: “Everything other was unavailable, including opening and closing ceremonies, oregon way mode way excessively costly to consider. I retrieve the 1984 Games precise well. The full metropolis was a enactment due to the fact that each the naysayers near town. My wife’s tiny 200-square-foot flat was afloat of cousins and a sports newsman who slept connected the hallway floor. It was glorious. Not to mention, the 99 Cents store had large memorabilia for little than a subordinate for years!”

Ticket buyer: Liza Thompson of Los Angeles

Events: Equestrian mixed preliminary, formation volleyball, h2o polo men’s preliminary and emblem shot mixed preliminary

Thoughts: “I loved the system. I’ve seen a batch of criticism, but honestly, it was truthful smooth! The lone occupation I gathered from talking to radical was the quality successful expectations successful lawsuit availability. Pricing was wide and of people the inexpensive tickets went fast. I bash privation determination had been much clarity astir the antithetic drops and which events had nary availability. I learned aft the information that nary tickets had been sold for surfing and I would person held immoderate of my 12 summons bounds for aboriginal drops had I known. Living successful Los Angeles connected a day-to-day ground often makes maine hide astir the city’s cognition connected planetary terms. I emotion this metropolis and americium excited to instrumentality portion successful an lawsuit that is bigger than my L.A. bubble.”

Ticket buyer: Dan Bump of Arcadia

Events: Women’s cricket, equestrian mixed, women’s h2o polo, badminton mixed and women’s golf.

Thoughts: “My lad had been successful the summons driblet a time earlier me, truthful helium tipped maine disconnected to look astatine the array of summons options earlier my clip came. I miss the aureate days (1980s) erstwhile I lined up astatine Ticketmaster locations successful section stores to bargain Lakers tickets for the playoffs and adjacent finals that were truly rather affordable. (OK, I don’t miss the lining up part, conscionable the tenable prices!) Then, during the past affirmative Angels season, 2002 erstwhile they won the World Series, I was besides capable to get tickets for the playoff bid against the Yankees for a tenable magnitude of money. I retrieve the 1984 Olympics precise fondly, and anticipation the Los Angeles magic tin repetition itself.”