Since there are Sold out crowd in many events so means Profit rite? All the $$$ who will pocket?
YOG: Sold-out events see spike in fans getting last-minute tickets
SINGAPORE : Popular events at the Youth Olympic Games saw packed houses on Thursday, thanks to a last-minute surge in ticket sales.
The spike follows Wednesday's decision by organisers to re-sell tickets for previously sold-out events, like tennis, if there are no-shows.
A queue had formed outside the Kallang Tennis Centre since noon, with many hoping to get last-minute tickets.
Cari Vonarx, who tried to get last-minute tickets, said: "I was pleasantly surprised that you could get tickets, because I didn't think that you could actually get tickets, even lining up."
Sporting events are not like concerts or theatre shows in that during the game, people may leave or enter the stadium at will. So to ensure that seats remain filled, it has become a long-standing industry practice for a certain number of tickets to be released only an hour before the game starts.
And following Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan's announcement on Wednesday, this will also include tickets at sold-out venues, if seats have not been filled by the time the match begins.
This policy applies to the following games: athletics, badminton, table tennis, boxing, judo, handball, canoe/kayak, football, hockey, tennis and volleyball.
Organisers said spectators cannot be guaranteed entry into venues that are sold out, and Channel NewsAsia understands that events that were sold out months ago - such as gymnastics and swimming - are unlikely to have extra tickets released.
The move to sell unclaimed seats came following complaints that people were being turned away at venue counters even though stadiums were not full - either because ticket-holders showed up late, or left early.
Michael Palmer, a practising lawyer as well as a member of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee, said: "It's not an assigned seating, so you don't have a particular reserved seat - you have a right to a seat in the venue.
"So as long as the organiser provides a seat in the venue, they've fulfilled their legal obligation."
Mr Palmer, who is also an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, also thinks it is fairer if unclaimed seats were resold.
He said: "Once you start giving away seats, then the first buyer would then say, 'Why didn't you give it to me? Why do I have to pay and the second guy who comes along later, who didn't bother to book it in advance, gets a free seat?'
"So that's where you get the inequity. I think the equity lies in the fact that you get what you pay for."
Agreeing, Mr Seah Seng Choon from the Consumers Association of Singapore noted that "there is no rule to stop the organiser from re-selling the tickets for the empty seats so long as they are able to ensure that whoever has a ticket is given a seat at the stadium."
Spectators seem to agree. Grace Seow said: "I do not mind personally to pay for a ticket. And that's the reason why many of us are in the queue here. I believe none of us are expecting free tickets."
Inside the tennis centre, seats filled up fast. So an hour into the opening match, those in still queue for last-minute tickets had to be turned away.
Organisers said the issue is a sign that a sporting culture is taking root.
Ng Ser Miang, chairman of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee, said: "It is a good problem because now people are interested, now they complain I cannot find tickets. Whereas previously, people are like, 'err what's YOG?'"
However, some felt that things could have been better organised. One of them is Mrs Agnes Ong, who waited for over an hour.
She said: "If they have a few tickets left only, then don't keep 30 people waiting just for five tickets. Come out and tell us, we only have five tickets so we don't queue in vain."
The number of tickets released for sold-out events will depend on seating capacity, among other factors, and is left to the assessment of the venue manager.
YOG: Sold-out events see spike in fans getting last-minute tickets
SINGAPORE : Popular events at the Youth Olympic Games saw packed houses on Thursday, thanks to a last-minute surge in ticket sales.
The spike follows Wednesday's decision by organisers to re-sell tickets for previously sold-out events, like tennis, if there are no-shows.
A queue had formed outside the Kallang Tennis Centre since noon, with many hoping to get last-minute tickets.
Cari Vonarx, who tried to get last-minute tickets, said: "I was pleasantly surprised that you could get tickets, because I didn't think that you could actually get tickets, even lining up."
Sporting events are not like concerts or theatre shows in that during the game, people may leave or enter the stadium at will. So to ensure that seats remain filled, it has become a long-standing industry practice for a certain number of tickets to be released only an hour before the game starts.
And following Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan's announcement on Wednesday, this will also include tickets at sold-out venues, if seats have not been filled by the time the match begins.
This policy applies to the following games: athletics, badminton, table tennis, boxing, judo, handball, canoe/kayak, football, hockey, tennis and volleyball.
Organisers said spectators cannot be guaranteed entry into venues that are sold out, and Channel NewsAsia understands that events that were sold out months ago - such as gymnastics and swimming - are unlikely to have extra tickets released.
The move to sell unclaimed seats came following complaints that people were being turned away at venue counters even though stadiums were not full - either because ticket-holders showed up late, or left early.
Michael Palmer, a practising lawyer as well as a member of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee, said: "It's not an assigned seating, so you don't have a particular reserved seat - you have a right to a seat in the venue.
"So as long as the organiser provides a seat in the venue, they've fulfilled their legal obligation."
Mr Palmer, who is also an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, also thinks it is fairer if unclaimed seats were resold.
He said: "Once you start giving away seats, then the first buyer would then say, 'Why didn't you give it to me? Why do I have to pay and the second guy who comes along later, who didn't bother to book it in advance, gets a free seat?'
"So that's where you get the inequity. I think the equity lies in the fact that you get what you pay for."
Agreeing, Mr Seah Seng Choon from the Consumers Association of Singapore noted that "there is no rule to stop the organiser from re-selling the tickets for the empty seats so long as they are able to ensure that whoever has a ticket is given a seat at the stadium."
Spectators seem to agree. Grace Seow said: "I do not mind personally to pay for a ticket. And that's the reason why many of us are in the queue here. I believe none of us are expecting free tickets."
Inside the tennis centre, seats filled up fast. So an hour into the opening match, those in still queue for last-minute tickets had to be turned away.
Organisers said the issue is a sign that a sporting culture is taking root.
Ng Ser Miang, chairman of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee, said: "It is a good problem because now people are interested, now they complain I cannot find tickets. Whereas previously, people are like, 'err what's YOG?'"
However, some felt that things could have been better organised. One of them is Mrs Agnes Ong, who waited for over an hour.
She said: "If they have a few tickets left only, then don't keep 30 people waiting just for five tickets. Come out and tell us, we only have five tickets so we don't queue in vain."
The number of tickets released for sold-out events will depend on seating capacity, among other factors, and is left to the assessment of the venue manager.
