Rio Olympics - so many vacant seats

[bojorojo]

Why can't the organisers reduce the price of the seats or get children involved? The number of empty seats is an embarrassment. We know ordinary Rio residents are poor, so why set the prices so high meaning the stadiums are half empty? Even the athletics today was a disgrace. Why is the Olympics in a city where the only sport anyone cares about is football?

[SpecificDetails]

I imagine Zika is a lot of the reason people haven't gone.

[DerekSprechenZeDick]

That Zika thing probably put many off

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Historically Olympic venues have only been half full, London was the first olymplics where nearly every seat was taken in every session in every venue.

[VladmirsPoutine]

I don't think the Olympics has ever been a sold out event wherever it's been held. That said I do think there are a lot of mitigating factors wrt Rio such as Zika and the extortionate cost of travelling.

[ineedamoreadultieradult]

Why cant they give away tickets to charities/youth groups etc. Imagine living next to all these Olympic stadiums and not being able to afford to go then seeing all the empty seats! Our local football club give tickets away to kids teams etc if they know there is going to be a low turn out.

[KittyandTeal]

But zika doesn't put off people who live in Rio surely? As in the threat is already there.

Have they done affordable seats this year? I know they did affordable tickets for London starting at around £15. I know that's a huge amount for some in Rio but surely they could make them affordable

[GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER]

I read somewhere that locals aren't going as a protest to the government - economy in dire straits, corruption, etc.

[LikeDylanInTheMovies]

It does seem a bit of a damp squib but as others have said, London was the exception, not the rule.Being held in the capital of a small, comparatively wealthy and densely populated country that has a strong Olympic tradition certainly helped boost attendance.

Given their size and population Brazil have traditionally performed poorly at the Olympics. There isn't a great track and field tradition in Brazil, they've only won four golds since the start of the modern games and they tend to do well in niche sports, rather than the events that take place in the main arena.

[bojorojo]

You would think the organising committee would do something to get more people attending. Children is the obvious one but should the Olympics be held in cities which have huge poverty issues ? The pricing structure is clearly wrong. I think Sydney was successful but Bejing was too expensive for the locals. At least London learnt that lesson. Transport is a shambles too apparently.

[RichardBucket]

The empty seats have been bothering me too. I watched the outdoor cycling (don't know what it's called) and there were loads of Brazilian people on the side of the roads watching. So I think it's cost rather than a protest or any reason like that.

[NeedAnotherGlass]

It's a real shame. Some events look almost empty. The athletics stadium wasn't even half full.

[Freshprincess]

I seem to remember some empty seats in the early stages of London. Something about corporate seats not being taken up.

[yeOldeTrout]

Does no one else remember tickets being given away in London, the squaddies who were invited in to watch for free?

When Brazil won the right to host Olympics they were 6th in world for GDP (I heard).
Atlanta (USA) Olympics was a shambles for transport and some venues had problems, too.

At least the Brazilian colour scheme is brill, works really well :).

[Vinegartitsvera]

Is Brazil likely to profit at all? Wondering why some countries fight so hard to host ?

[blueturtle6]

There was empty seats at London,I was told at the time they are corporate tickets and people hadn't turned up. Shame for people who wanted to go and for the athletes.

[Lindy2]

I think they just aren't very interested. The bike road races are free to watch but there were very few people at the side of the road. Mostly it just seemed to be a few idiots running right next to the riders. When the road race came through London and Surrey there were literally millions of us lining every bit of the way. It was fabulous.

[Wordsaremything]

Because it's dull and the local people can't afford to go.

[TriJo]

Athletics morning sessions are always quiet - when DH was at Athens 2004 he got tickets on the door for about €10 for mornings, likewise when he was at the European championships in Barcelona in 2010.

Rio ticket prices are crazy compared to local incomes too - one of DH's morning session tickets has a face value of R$ 160 which is not far off 40 quid!

British people are mad for an event too compared to a lot of the rest of the world.

[manicinsomniac]

I have a lot of Brazilian friends and family. A few of them are going to the football in Belo Horizonte (they live there) but nobody is going to Rio.

Reasons are:

1. It's expensive. Not necessarily unaffordable for them but not worth the money.
   
   
2. It's a lot of travel time.
   
   
3. A lot of them don't think the government should be spending the money on the Olympics when their economy is in free fall and so many in Rio live in desperate poverty. Of course when Rio won the Olympic bid their economy was very strong. Brazil crashed as everyone else was recovering.
   
   
4. A lot of them are afraid of terrorism. Brazil has never been a particular target and they are afraid that, with the arrival of huge amounts of Western international athletes and tourists, there will be problems.
   
   
5. A lot of them don't believe that the police and the government have followed through with their promises to make Rio safe and they think that the extra crowds in the city will make it an unpleasant and risky trip.
   
   I was going to go to Rio this summer but thought I'd miss everything in my attempt to see one event. I'm regretting it now - think we could have had as many tickets as we'd liked!

[dizzyfeck]

manicinsomniac I live in Brazil. My main reason not to go is that I have no time off, it's a long way, I lived in London during the olympics and didn't go then either. But that was because we couldn't get tickets. It was overcrowded in London during the olympics with really bad traffic jams. I have no idea how Rio is coping on that side.
My brother in law lives in Rio and I have a few old friends there, as we used to live in Rio. All of them are going to events. They are really enoying it as well. From my town only my son's PE teacher went because he was part of the schools-olympics programme but no one else has gone.

I hope Brazil comes out unscathed by terrorism. Whatsapp has been shut down several times as they found terrorism networks on there and whatsapp refused to comply with police demands.

[manicinsomniac]

Totally understand the travel logistics dizzyfeck I'm less than an hour from London so I went to 2012 but doubt I would have done if I was from Scotland for example - and that's closer than even cities 'near' to Rio like Sao Paulo and Belo isn't it!

[dizzyfeck]

Yes but you get used to long distances. We think nothing of driving six hours for a weekend at the beach or frequently driving 3 hours to belo and back in the same day just for school supplies. It wasn't the logistics of travel I was pointing out, it's the suggestion that you can convert 1000+ reias to 400 something pounds. 400 would be under the minimum wage for starters.

[dizzyfeck]

Sorry wrong thread, there are several of these Rio seat threads going. Yes the logistics of not going is more time off. I get 9 weeks a year. Like most Brazilians thr summer holidays are Dec-Feb, two weeks in July and one week in October. Now it's work time. Odd that they have olympics now instead of two weeks ago when the schools were out and lots of people were on holiday.

[Footle]

I heard this discussed on the radio last week. The committee intended to provide free seats for schoolchildren , especially those with sporting talents , and very reduced tickets for many other pp, which could be paid for in small instalments , 4 instalments for a ticket worth the equivalent of £10.

It was then decided that cheap or free tickets could be seen as bribes by politicians hoping for votes in the coming election. Electoral bribery is common, apparently. So the offers were withdrawn.

[manicinsomniac]

Oh no, Footle that's awful Those kids would have got so much out of seeing these events.