TOROC Reaches Ticket Revenue Target; Transportation An Issue

TOROC Surpasses $76M Ticket Revenue Goal

TOROC yesterday said that it has reached its ticket revenue target of $76M after selling 766,000 of 1 million available tickets, according to Ariel David of the AP. Sales “picked up after Friday’s opening ceremony,” and during the weekend, the Games’ ticket Web site “was frequently inaccessible due to high traffic.” TOROC spokesperson Giuseppe Gattino said that about 55,000 fans attended events on Saturday, while Friday’s Opening Ceremony “broke the earnings record for a sports event in Italy, taking in nearly” $16M (AP, 2/12).

TRANSPORTATION: In N.Y., Ian Fisher writes predictions of “logistical nightmares for fans and sparsely filled arenas seem not to have been realized” through the first two days. However, seats “at many Olympic competition sites were empty” and the “extraordinarily complex transportation system” for the mountain events “was far from perfect.” Yesterday, security slowed crowds going to the downhill skiing area to the extent that at race time, “a third of the spectators had not made it to their seats.” TOROC spokesperson Mary Villa: “We are just fine-tuning things” (N.Y. TIMES, 2/13). NBC’s Kevin Corke reported traffic was “moving along fairly smoothly” to the mountain events despite some “concerns by organizers.” Corke said the “unseasonably warm” weather led to “very dry roads, (which) makes a big difference for traffic. Also, we have seen aggressive law enforcement” (“Today,” NBC, 2/11). But in Ft. Worth, Gil LeBreton writes during his trip to the men’s downhill in Sestriere-Borgata, the first bus had mechanical troubles and a second bus “went the wrong way and ended up stopping ... to ask for directions.” After taking four buses and a van, the one-way trip took about three hours (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 2/13).

MEDIA: The N.Y. TIMES’ Fisher notes logistical problems “have been especially pressing for many of the 10,000 journalists here. With long distances between events and news media centers, and between Turin and the mountains, reporters have complained of long waits and travel times” (N.Y. TIMES, 2/13). In Indianapolis, Bob Kravitz wrote U.S. officials “are warning journalists that they face some major problems. Like getting to venues. Like sending their stories over the phone system that works about 10[%] of the time. Like gaining access to arenas that haven’t been tested under game-day conditions” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/11). In Memphis, Geoff Calkins wrote the security “is relaxed everywhere.” At the media village, St. Petersburg Times writer Gary Shelton set off a metal detector because he was listening to his iPod. He pointed to the ear piece and said, “Music,” to which the guard replied, “OK.” Shelton “was not asked to go back through the metal detector without the iPod.” Calkins also noted the media in Turin does not get the NBC feed. Calkins: “At some level, this is smart. Because the media might point out if NBC’s Olympics doesn’t correspond to the Olympics going on over here. ... We have no idea what you’re seeing, what you’re being told is important, and what you’re being told is not” (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 2/12).

Some Mountain Events Struggle With Transportation Issues

COMMERCIALIZATION: In DC, Sally Jenkins wrote the Games “aren’t being staged for the athletes, or even the spectator, but for the corporate client.” There are 2,500 athletes at the Olympics, compared to 10,000 “sponsor’s guests,” 2,300 Olympic officials, 2,700 NBC staffers, 20,000 volunteers, 1,600 members of TOROC and 7,300 international media members, meaning that the “credentialed non-athletes outnumber the athletes by a ratio of more than 20 to 1.” Jenkins: “There is a decided difference between sponsorship and commercial glut. The balance is in danger of tipping, in the hands of [IOC President Jacques] Rogge and the IOC, and tangential junk threatens to blot out every athlete and ideal.” The Games “are becoming more than just an economic engine; they are a tasteless festival of freeloading and overloading. ... When did the main priority of the Olympics become sales strategy instead of athletic pursuit?” (WASHINGTON POST, 2/11).