The Rio 2016 Olympics "have come under fire for the number of empty seats, particularly at the start of the track and field events in the huge and out-of-the-way Engenhão," according to Leahy & Ahmed of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The dearth of spectators "is one of many hitches that have dogged the Rio games." Hamilton William dos Santos, a lawyer from São Paulo who traveled to Rio early last week to see the athletics and judo competitions, said, "It was so sad to see all the empty seats, especially since it cost a lot to build the venues. It’s been my dream since childhood to see the Olympic Games but none of my friends went. There were questions of safety, crime, terrorism, the cost of staying in Rio ... but it’s also a Brazilian self-esteem thing -- because it’s being held in Brazil people here thought it was going to be rubbish." But organizers insist that "tickets are selling well and any empty seats in the venues have more to do with the idiosyncrasies of Brazilian fans rather than a lack of interest in the Olympics in the host country of South America’s first games." A staff member working for the Rio organizing committee said, "We keep telling people that Brazilians leave their ticket-buying until the last minute and no one believes us, but unfortunately it is true." The organizers said that "they have sold 5.7m of a total of 6.5m tickets available for the games," or just under 88%. The organizers claim that "they are well on their way" to collecting the R$1.17B ($367M) target envisaged from ticket sales for the Olympics and the Paralympics. The other Brazilian characteristic "that made the arenas sometimes look empty was that people did not stay in their seats." If an event was particularly long, "they might wander off out into the wider Olympic Park." Indeed, organizers "are finding that people sometimes spend the whole day wandering around the Olympic Park, sampling its diversions, such as a virtual disco." Rio 2016 Ticketing Dir Donovan Ferreti said, "People are saying it is a Disneyland of sport" (FT, 8/15).
