LONDON (AP) — Blocks of seats at premier Olympic events are empty, and organizers and the government "urgently" promise to find out why. They say they might set up new systems to ensure those seats are filled, even if they have to be given away.
There was widespread criticism from Saturday's opening day of competition. Whole sections of lower-tier seats were largely empty at events, including tennis, gymnastics and swimming. By contrast, an estimated 1 million people lined the route of Saturday's outdoor cycling, an unticketed and free event.
Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London organizers, and British Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said they suspected that most of the no-shows were the guests of corporate sponsors. Coe said the committee might name and shame those responsible if they don't take steps to get real fans in the seats.
"We think it was accredited seats that belonged to sponsors," Hunt said. "But if they're not going to turn up, we want those tickets to be available for members of the public because that creates the best atmosphere. So we're looking at this very urgently."
Olympic sponsors Coca-Cola and Visa said they gave away most of their seating quotas to the public in promotional offers.
Coca-Cola said its competitions allowed prize winners "to choose the event they really wanted to attend."
"We have also invited some long-standing partners, employees, and customers to attend the games. We believe that usage levels of our tickets have been extremely high so far," the company said.
Visa said the "great majority" of its seats are being used by "ordinary cardholders who have won them through competitions or promotions."
"We make great efforts to ensure that our ticket allocations are fully used," Visa said.
David Sparkes, chief executive of British Swimming, said the Olympic Acquatics Centre was much fuller in the evening than the morning heats. But he suggested that the Olympics should create a way for fans unable to use their tickets can donate them immediately to a charity for resale.
"We all like to see a full house. The pool is one of the most sought-after venues and tickets are hard to come by," Sparkes said.
The London Games Organizing Committee said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press it is looking into "who should have been sitting in the seats, and why they did not attend."
Hunt said London organizers had learned from Beijing in 2008, which had problems filling some venues because of the high cost of tickets.
"One of the lessons that we took away ... is that full stadia create the best atmosphere. It's best for the athletes, it's more fun for spectators and it's been an absolute priority."
He noted that the London Games does feature a facility in which fans leaving a stadium can turn in their tickets to be used by other fans on standby, but he said other systems to redistribute tickets would be considered.
"We want this to be the Olympics that people remember for the best atmosphere," he said.
