World Champs tickets going $95-125 PER SESSION? Am I reading this right?

Hi Sha'Carri

What are you taking about? The stadium in Eugene was a complete embarrassment for the Olympic Trials. It looked like the crowd for a high school invitational meet. They may sell a bunch of corporate seats, but putting the tickets at $100+ per session means they are thing to have another crowd with zero energy.

The Olympics Trials SOLD OUT in 2020, just like they had done for all previous times they had the Trials in Eugene.

But when the Trials were postponed to 2021, all ticket holders were given the option of getting their money back, or keeping their tickets until 2021. 8,000 of us choose to keep our tickets.

But about 3 months before the 2021 Olympics Trials, all 8,000 of us were told all tickets were being cancelled, because they weren't sure they would be able to have any spectators at all because of Covid restrictions in Oregon, which were very strict.

Then 3 weeks before the 2021 Olympics Trials, we all got an email that said "Tickets are going on sale again, but we still aren't sure if we will be having spectators. That will be determined at the last minute by the state of Oregon. But you can buy tickets just in case you are allowed to come. And also, we will only allow a very limited number of vaccinated people, and we still stick those people in the worst seats, and social distance them."

Well, I'm not going to get tickets, ask for time off of work, buy plane tickets, and reserve a hotel room, just on the hope that when I arrive in Eugene I might be allowed to enter the stadium.

So most of the original ticket holders decided not to go because of all the uncertainty. And the final decision from the state of Oregon to allow spectators didn't even happen until a few days before the Trials started. THAT is why the stadium was empty.

True!!🙌

Prices in Eugene are insane and pretty much nothing is left at this point.

Fire Sale prices for tickets. Must be the COVID-19 lockdown that made it so affordable.

Have you not been to an nfl game, nba or any major concert..? This is the WORLD Champs. If anything, those prices are cheap. They can and will go up a lot closer to the event.

USA track fans, especially distance mavens, are notorious cheapskates. Been that way since forever.

I was planning a big trip for the WCs. Once I saw ticket prices, I had to cancel everything. If I wanted to attend 5 days of the event, see both sessions, and get lodging. It was going to run thousands. No way.

It was worth it to me to pay for decent (not great) seats for myself and my family for almost all evening sessions. Was it a big credit card bill? Absolutely. Will there be another World Champs within driving distance of where I live? Don't know.

By living near Eugene you eliminated a huge cost that most people would have, which is you don't have to pay $400 per night for a hotel room. Not to mention no airfare and no rental car. So you'll actually be paying a lot less than most other people.

This is the first track meet where it's understandable that even the non-cheapskate US track fans have a legitimate complaint about it being expensive, especially when factoring in $300 - $400 per night for a hotel.

But yes you are right that in general US track fans are very cheap. Earlier today on this thread some guy complained that $23 per day for the NCAA track and field championships was too high. Ridiculous.

I remember getting tickets for Daegu in 2011 the day they went on sale. Paid $225 for the entire meet to sit 3 rows up from the 1500 start line. My how things have changed....

The problem is that you read vaguely.

In my opinion:

HS track meet - free

NCAA track meet - $10

Pro track meet - $25 a day

and this is coming from a guy who has spent over $200 for field seats at MLB games and it was worth it

good

if I was a lade I'd let wejo charm me

The problem with this is that you are saying watching the best pro baseball players in the country is worth my money, but watching the best T&F athletes is not. And keep in mind that baseball plays 162 games a year. Maybe ticket prices do not have a direct correlation to what athletes earn, but it's something. We all feel that pro T&F athletes deserve to make money, and more than they do now, but we're undervaluing their efforts.

I'm surprised they are that low. This is the track equivalent of the Super Bowl. I would expect ticket to cost in the same range.

I just bought a bunch at $10/session. Just be more selective on your seating. Yes, it's $95 if you want a good view of the finish line.