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« Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » Winter Games Face Many Hurdles, Organizers Forge AheadBy J.D. O'Connor  What he doesn't have, he says, are any takers. "I've got eight for the gold medal ice hockey match," Morgan said. "A grand - each. It's just a matter of time; the buzz is starting to build. People are waiting until last minute. They always do." Morgan, a self-described "little guy" in the world of sports ticket sales, makes a tidy living hawking Oakland Raider and San Francisco Giant's ducats. Tickets to the Winter Games, he thought, might make for a quick sale. It seems he's not the only one who has encountered a paucity of willing buyers as the torch makes its way to Torino. The Torino Organizing Committee, which sells tickets within the European Union, has sold just under 60 percent of its one million tickets and has availability left for every event, according to committee leaders. Days away from opening ceremonies Feb. 10, the Italian agency handling hotel accommodations in Torino - Jumbo Grandi Eventi - reported nearly 2,000 hotel rooms remain vacant. "I am rather confident that we shall reach our targets for ticketing sale," said Valentino Castellani, president of the Turin organizing committee. Ticket agents and travel experts experienced in arranging Olympic travel packages - and with traveling in Italy, agree. "Salt Lake City had the same availability (in 2002) and then it tightened up at the last minute and (sales) went off the charts," David Lord, CEO of a ticket-brokering firm called RazorGator, told USA Today. "We're expecting the same trend to happen here." CoSport, the New Jersey-based company authorized to sell tickets to the games, quickly sold out of lower-priced tickets for the most popular events but still has "premium tickets" available for almost every event - including the popular women's figure skating final. "We sold out of our category B and C seats right away," CoSport president Sead Dizdarevic told Industry Report. "I wish I had more." Travelers headed to Torino and hoping to make the opening ceremony on Feb. 10 can expect to shell out $1,260 for an "A" ticket - best in the house - if they want to see the torch lighting. CoSport already sold all of its allotted "B" and "C" tickets to most hockey games, figure skating, and downhill events, Dizdarevic said, although the company has a few premium tickets left for the bronze medal hockey match up on Feb. 25. "One thousand and eight dollars," he said, making "Val" Morgan's $1,000 ducats for the gold medal face-off suddenly very attractive, indeed. Torino watchers say that while ticket sales of the more popular events have been brisk, the Winter Games have several major hurdles to clear before organizers can claim total success. What kind of hurdles? "Snow," said Leslie Rowland-Kirksey, a British tourist who skied the area until Italian authorities sealed off some venues for security reasons. "I was at Sauze d'Oulx (site of the upcoming freestyle competition) last week and there wasn't any snow at all." Conditions were so poor that snow guns were hauled in after the International Ski Federation complained last week about a dangerous lack of cover at the top of the downhill run in the town of Sestriere. Although the region remains locked in one of the driest winters on record, organizers maintain the hill has been safely covered and is ready for competition. Perhaps even more daunting to dollar-packing Americans than the lack of snow and promise of long lines at Italian security checkpoints is the strength of the Euro. An unfavorable exchange rate could do more to prevent U.S. citizens from making the trip than any fear of terrorism, travel experts warned. Currently, $1US equals 0.826040 EUR. "We haven't had one call about the Olympics, not one," John Burgess, a travel agent at Preferred Travel of Naples, Fla., told the International Herald Tribune. "It's so much more comfortable to watch it on TV." Other factors, including what some have taken to calling "Olympic Fatigue," may also be at play. A decision to alternate the Summer and Winter games gave us an Olympic event every two years instead of every four. Contentious judging and doping scandals have also dampened public enthusiasm. And, Bode Miller aside, (see story, left) the current U.S. Winter Olympic lineup does not ring with household names like Harding, Hamilton and Heiden. Italian officials wave off concerns with customary Italian cool. "I am superconfident," said Evelina Christillin, deputy president of the Turin organizing committee. Christillin said that Italian ski sensation Giorgio Rocca's fifth World Cup slalom victory last week had renewed national interest in the games. Italian newspapers hailed Rocca's achievement as "the perfect antidote" to any criticism about Italy's decision to act as host. Torino is not only ready for the Games, Christillin said, but interest and excitement will build in the weeks before the opening ceremony and the pinnacle of winter sports competition will come off "spectacularly." Home front efforts to build interest in the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team have also met with initial success, according to Tom Kelly, vice president of Marketing, Communications for the USSA. Seventy-five resorts and ski areas, including Alpine Meadows, Killington, Whiteface, and The Canyons have signed on to host the inaugural U.S. Ski Team Day, a promotional event to benefit U.S. Ski Team athletes. The program will take place on Saturday, Feb. 11, with some resorts launching the event Feb. 10 in celebration of the opening ceremonies. Participating areas across the country will donate one dollar per lift ticket or cross country trail pass sold on event day to back U.S. Ski Team initiatives. "It's exciting to know that skiers from coast to coast will be supporting our nation's athletes as the Torino Games begin," said U.S. Ski Team President and CEO Bill Marolt. "That energy will certainly help the Team's quest to be Best in the World in 2006." « Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » |
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