- LA's 2028 Olympics tickets are causing sticker shock with high prices.
- Opening ceremony seats range from $329 to $5,519 each.
- Only locals in certain counties can currently purchase tickets.
SALT LAKE CITY — Now that tickets are on sale for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, prices are causing some sticker shock.
Alberto Belli, an LA-based director whose credits include a Disney Christmas movie, posted on X that the price tag for tickets for a family of four to the opening ceremony of the next Olympics adds up to $10,418.
"For 'OK' seats. Guess I'm watching from the couch," his post said, describing the cost as what's being called, "The 'LA Exodus' summarized in a single checkout cart" and including a mocking skull emoji.
His post was cited in a recent Los Angeles Times newsletter that pointed out opening ceremony tickets were priced between $329 and $5,519 for a single seat, but the lower cost tickets offered during the initial presale that started last week were already sold out.
Not everyone was disappointed in the offerings.
"I got Olympic tickets," screenwriter Daniel Kunka posted on X last week.
"The process was pretty painless but will say the cheap tix for the presale are going quick. Still scored a $28 ticket for Women's Soccer Semifinal. And considerably more for Women's Gymnastics Preliminary but gotta say was pretty pumped," Kunka's post said.
So far, only locals living in "qualifying counties" in California and Oklahoma, the site of Olympic canoe slalom and softball competitions, have been able to buy tickets, but only if they preregistered and had their names randomly drawn.
Others who already signed up for tickets should be getting an email Tuesday from the LA28 organizing committee that either tells them when they can make a purchase or that their names will be in the draw for the next round of sales.
Fans who missed the original March 18 deadline to participate in the first ticket draw can subscribe to the organizing committee's online newsletter to be notified about future registration dates.
Some 1 million tickets are priced at $28, according to LA organizers, with only around 5% costing more than $1,000. There's also an additional 24% service fee, which the Los Angeles Times reported organizers are calling the "industry standard."
Ticket sales are a significant source of revenue for what in the United States are privately funded Olympic and Paralympic Games. In Los Angeles, organizers are counting on ticket revenue to cover $2.5 billion of their more than $7 billion budget.
Utah's 2034 Winter Games are expected to cost a total of $4 billion to stage, with the sale of ticket as well as hospitality packages accounting for 30% of all revenues. Utah organizers have committed to offering 34,000 tickets at just $34 each.
Just how high will ticket prices go at the state's second Winter Games?
"It is too early to set prices on the higher end, but the likely outcome would be in line with Games and sport events, adjust for inflation," said Fraser Bullock, president and executive chair of the Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
"We call it a 'barbell strategy,' where we have many very inexpensive tickets beginning at $34 to allow broad access, and we have many very expensive tickets that help pay for the Games," Bullock said.
He said that strategy "is a key element in our ability to put on the Games without state or local taxpayer funding." Other major revenue sources are sponsorships, broadcast rights and private contributions.
Asked about the prices being charged in Los Angeles, Bullock said Utah organizers "look forward to the LA Games and their great success. We anticipate learning a significant amount from their ticket pricing."
