Less than two years before the event, the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games took a more concrete turn this Monday, April 11, with the announcement by the organizing committee (POCOG) of ticketing details. Price of seats, number of tickets on sale, distribution, predictable revenue… The South Koreans have suddenly lifted the veil.
The numbers, first. Organizers of the PyeongChang Games will put 1,17 million tickets on sale. 70% of them will be reserved for South Korean audiences. Foreign spectators will have to share the rest, 30% of the offer, or a generous amount of 351.000 tickets. Expected revenue: 174 billion won, or approximately 133 million euros.
Prices now. Reasonable. “Our ambition is to make the Winter Games in PyeongChang in 2018 as accessible as possible for the public, all audiences,” proudly explained Sung Baik-you, POCOG spokesperson at a conference press release in Seoul, specifying that the pricing policy had been established after a market study in eight countries, including South Korea, and a series of discussions with the IOC and international winter sports federations.
The result: an average price for the fortnight of the Games (February 9 to 25, 2018) of 107 euros (140.000 won). Very close to that practiced at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, slightly lower than the average price of a place at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. But half of the places offered to the public will cost less than 80.000 won, or 61 euros at the current price. .
In detail, the offer refined by POCOG turns out to be quite classic. For the opening ceremony, ranked 3rd among the events most requested by the South Korean public, it will cost between 153 and 1150 euros.
Just below on the price scale is ice hockey. Not really a sport very anchored in South Korean culture, but a priori very spectacular. Tickets for the Olympic tournament range from 46 to 690 euros. They should tear themselves away. Less surprising, the hoped-for success of the figure skating events. A much more Korean show, where the national skaters should find the right path to the podium. Not really very accessible, with places sold between 115 and 612 euros.
POCOG has already done its math: ice hockey and figure skating could be the two most profitable disciplines of the 2018 Games. Without discussion. Between them, they should contribute nearly 40% to ticketing revenue. Figure skating will bring 19,7% of the sum, ice hockey 19,1%.
The short track also promises to be one of the great moments of the Games. A recent study among the South Korean public places it at the top of the most coveted disciplines. Big success and full stands in perspective, with tickets available from 42 euros.
Candidates for places will still have to wait. Ticketing will officially begin in October. A launch which will be carried out simultaneously for the Korean public and for foreigners. The first will be able to reserve their places online, on the 2018 Olympics website. The second will have to go through the official agencies of the national Olympic committees.
