London 2012's corporate hospitality ticket gamble
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So now we finally know how hard it's going to be for the public to get a ticket to watch Usain Bolt in the 100 metres final at the 2012 Olympics. London 2012 chairman Lord Coe has told Ö÷²¥´óÐã London that only half of the tickets for the big nights will be available to ordinary fans.
Sponsors, corporate hospitality and VIPs have often snapped up many of the tickets for high-profile events at previous Games.
On the day 2012 tickets went on sale, Coe said: "We're still working through it but I can tell you that it is probably more likely to be 50% for something like the 100m final or the opening ceremony. But that's the way this whole process works."
I was talking to some young adults visiting the Olympic Park the other day and they believed the percentages should be much higher because so much public money has gone into the project.
Sponsors would argue, of course, that they play a key role in funding the Games and they are not allowed any advertising in the stadium. Offering tickets to clients and staff is therefore important to them.
The tickets for corporate hospitality will be the most expensive ever - around £270,000 for a package of tickets for the opening ceremony.
But we've spoken to 20 top companies which usually entertain clients at sports events and there's a feeling in the market that the prices of the packages are too high and that they are not flexible enough.
So 2012 may have a battle on their hands selling them. That matters because the free tickets being offered to schoolchildren in London and across the country are being funded by corporate hospitality sales.
I've been asking 2012 officials for a long time about how many tickets the public will have a chance to buy for the big nights. I'm glad we have finally got some clarity.
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I'm Ö÷²¥´óÐã London's Olympics Correspondent, which means I report on every aspect of the preparations for 2012. I'm going to be telling you what people are saying about London's preparations - both in the Olympic corridors of power and on the streets of the capital - and I want to hear your views.
