Demand For Vancouver Games Tix Forces More Events To Lottery
VANOC Exec VP/Revenue, Marketing & Communications Dave Cobb said that demand for tickets for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics is "so strong that more events than expected will go to lottery and all events will sell out," according to Jeff Lee of the VANCOUVER SUN. Cobb: "Our confidence that we will sell out all of our tickets by the time the Games come has gone up." Cobb said that VANOC is "not worried about the downturn" in the economy, adding that initial tracking on its Web site "shows strong demand." VANOC in the last four days "has sold thousands of tickets and has had more than two million page views of its tickets website." Cobb said that VANOC "may also benefit from the softening economy because it has already raised most of its revenue and will be spending a lot more money in the 12 months before the opening ceremony." Cobb: "Things are slowing down now at a time when most of our revenue is already collected so we may be a net beneficiary given that we have a lot more spending to do." Meanwhile, VANOC confirmed that "'human error' led to about 200 buyers receiving confirmation e-mails with the wrong name when the tickets first went on sale," adding that "no personal information or credit card numbers were disclosed and all of the buyers were contacted by phone to explain the situation" (VANCOUVER SUN, 10/8). VANOC VP/Ticketing & Consumer Marketing Caley Denton said of the problem, "It wasn't a system-function problem. It was human error working outside of the system" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 10/8).
PLAYING THE LOTTERY: In Vancouver, John Colebourn reported the B.C. Lottery Corp. Tuesday launched SportsFunder 2010 Olympic Hockey ticket packages, an "instant-win draw" for which tickets cost $10. The packages include "tickets to the women's gold-medal game, both men's semi-finals, the men's bronze-medal game, the men's gold-medal game plus the closing ceremonies," as well as accommodation in Vancouver. Colebourn notes "about 250,000 SportsFunder tickets have been printed," and proceeds from the sale of SportsFunder lottery games "help support amateur sports" in British Columbia (Vancouver PROVINCE, 10/8).
LEGAL ISSUES: The CP reported the B.C. Civil Liberties Association is "calling for the Competition Bureau to investigate whether the purchase of all outdoor ad space by [VANOC] violates the ban on anti-competitive activities." The IOC "requires that bid cities buy all the advertising on major thoroughfares leading to Olympic venues" (CP, 10/8). Meanwhile in Vancouver, Clare Ogilvie reports Winnipeg-based Roadtrips Sport Travel & Tours "has been hit with a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. for allegedly failing to meet obligations to provide tickets" for the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Games. U.S. attorney John Moriarty, who filed the suit in Houston Tuesday, is "asking for between [$4-6M] in damages," based on "about 240 people." Moriarty is "seeking reimbursement of costs" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 10/9).
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