For thousands of Americans like Nettle, Olympic euphoria has ended. It turns out that when the Olympic folks urged, “Come on down, y’all,” they didn’t mean all of y’all. In the first 60 days, 314,000 ticket applications were filed. More than 37,000 people wound up empty-handed. Many others received only a few tickets, and most of those were to less desirable events. Americans who’ve grown accustomed to watching thrilling Olympic events will get to see them as they always do-on TV.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution easily filled a full page with complaints. “I had sent approximately $1,175. I ended up with four $7 baseball tickets,” wrote Brenda Grazier of Doraville, Ga. “I’m not a happy camper.” Nor were losers in the ticket lottery pleased that they were stuck for a $15 handling fee-and still had to formally request refunds. “Within an hour of notification, I had my wife request a refund,” said Miles Zaremski, a Chicago attorney who landed only a couple of baseball tickets from his $2,000 order. “I don’t want the Olympic Committee to have my money any longer than necessary.”
The Atlanta Olympic Committee, which has already earned $6 million in interest on the the ticket money, is making no apologies-particularly as it still needs to raise $227 million to balance its projected $1.6 billion budget. It defended the process as “random and fair,” explaining that too many ticket buyers opted for only the most popular events like the Opening Ceremony, women’s gymnastics or swimming and diving. “This is the most in-demand event in the history of sport,” said U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Mike Moran. “This isn’t a Broadway play. This isn’t the Super Bowl. This is in another constellation.”
But explanations didn’t seem to help. Nor did Atlanta Olympic chief Billy Payne’s disclosure that some of his family failed to get tickets. Nor even the fact that there were still seats available-roughly 4 million-to events such as the archery finals, the equestrian competition and, 75 miles way in aptly named Athens, the women’s soccer finals.
Some ticket buyers were more equal than others. Four million tickets were reserved for corporate sponsors, politicians, international bigwigs and Olympic patrons ($50,000 a pop). As it happened, those in-eluded many of the best seats for the premier events. Even some members of the U.S. Olympic family found themselves outside, not looking in. Kim Carlisle, who made the U.S. Olympic swimming team in 1980, was thrilled when alumni got an early “priority” offering. But she didn’t get a single swimming ticket. Nor did Summer Sanders, who won four medals in Barcelona and is trying for a comeback in Atlanta. Her family sent in $15,500, taking both the priority and public route. Their haul: some volleyball and track and field tickets. “We’re treated like dog meat,” says Summer’s father, Bob, who dreads having “to beg and steal” tickets as he did in Barcelona.
Today the ticketless are unhappy. But the next distressed group is likely to be the ticketed. They’ve just started applying for housing in Atlanta and won’t be thrilled by offers of distant hotel space. For those hoping to be close to the main event, an estimated 20,000 Atlanta homeowners are offering their digs at premium prices. Deborah Stisher, 33, hopes to make enough from renting out her home in the city’s posh Buckhead section to buy a vacation house. She calls it “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make that kind of money in that time frame for relatively little hassle,” she says. “I’m not going to gouge my friends and family. I’ll gouge people I don’t know.” Y’all come, and bring some money.
