Duped. Scammed. Gouged. Sidelined.<\/p>\n
LA28 organizers probably didn\u2019t count on such words accompanying their first big ticket rollout ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games<\/a> in Los Angeles. After all, the committee and city leaders spent the last six months talking up the event.<\/p>\n The LA28 committee described the arrival of the Games as a boon for the city\u2019s inhabitants, with unifying statements: \u201cCreating the Games together!<\/a>\u201d Mayor Karen Bass promoted a \u201cGames for All<\/a>\u201d vision. And we\u2019ve been told over and over that tickets to events<\/a> would start as low as $28, the 24% ticketing fee included!<\/p>\n The presale ticket lottery for those residing in ZIP Codes around LA28 venues also meant we would have a fair shake at getting into the Games, right? Finally, an affordable way into a major L.A. sporting event for those of us who are not Casey Wasserman<\/a>, the multimillionaire chairman of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not what SoCal locals found in their first real brush with ticket access over the past week.<\/p>\n The presale launched Thursday, and by 10 a.m. Friday, aspiring ticket buyers reported that all artistic gymnastics events were marked \u201cunavailable,\u201d as was the opening ceremony. The few available tickets to swimming and athletic events such as track and field started at $1,116.27 per seat. Friends described the prices as \u201cCriminal,\u201d \u201cGreedy AF\u201d and \u201chorrific.\u201d My sibling said she felt crestfallen and likened it to discovering there was no Santa Claus. Jeffrey Epstein-level deception is where my mind went (please refer back to Wasserman<\/a>).<\/p>\n Sunday was my window to sign in for the privilege of seeing what wasn\u2019t available, or what was so far out of my price range it might as well have been cordoned off behind a gold rope and glass. There were no tennis, artistic gymnastics or men\u2019s basketball tickets available. And by Monday, there were only a handful of events accessible for less than $150 a ticket (handball, women\u2019s cricket, Judo). The women\u2019s basketball bronze-medal game started at $407.17 a ticket.<\/p>\n Wait, was that a FBL08 Football (Soccer) Women\u2019s Preliminary ticket at only $104.30? Forget it. It\u2019s in St.Louis, among the handful of football (soccer) games that will take place outside California. The canoe slalom and kayak cross are scheduled for venues in Oklahoma City. Tickets are probably still available for those events, which even with air travel figured in may be the closest you\u2019ll get an affordable LA28 event.<\/p>\n By Tuesday\u2019s draw, we were graciously given the option to purchase closing ceremony tickets at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, at $4,961.20 apiece. <\/p>\n Remember L.A., we\u2019re all in this together.<\/p>\n