RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, September 16. IF you\u2019re planning to attend the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, plane fares and hotel accommodations won\u2019t be the only pricey things to add to your list.<\/p>\n
Ticket prices for the various sports were released to the media today, and a ticket to watch the pool swimming action will be one of the most expensive on the list. A single-session ticket for the preliminary sessions will cost 350 Brazilian Reals, or US$149, for the \u201cA tier\u201d of pricing. The \u201cB tier\u201d ticket for prelims will cost 280 Brazilian Reals ($US120), while the \u201cC tier\u201d will set you back 160 Brazilian Reals (US$68) per prelims session.<\/p>\n
Naturally, the finals are more expensive. An \u201cA tier\u201d ticket costs 900 Reals (US$385), the \u201cB tier\u201d costs 500 Reals (US$214) and the \u201cC tier\u201d costs 260 Reals (US$111).<\/p>\n
By comparison, tickets to the men\u2019s basketball final, the beach volleyball final, men\u2019s volleyball final and the athletics \u201csuper final\u201d will cost 1,200 Reals (US$513). The women\u2019s basketball final, diving finals, men\u2019s football (soccer) final, artistic gymnastics finals and the women\u2019s volleyball final have the same price point as the swimming finals at 900 Reals per session.<\/p>\n
If that has you breaking out into a sweat wondering if you can foot the bill for the best seat at seven Olympic swimming finals (a total of 3,600 Reals or US$2,695), at least it\u2019s not a ticket to the Opening or Closing Ceremony. The Opening Ceremony\u2019s best seat will cost 4,600 Reals, or US$1,967. The \u201ccheap seats\u201d will cost 200 Reals (US$85). The Closing Ceremony is a little cheaper with a range of 200 to 3,000 Reals (US$85 to US$1,283) per ticket.<\/p>\n
With pool swimming the most popular sport in the opening week of the Games (and likely to be in very-high demand in Rio), it\u2019s no surprise that ticket prices are much lower for the remaining three aquatic events. A ticket for the men\u2019s and women\u2019s water polo final ranges from 140 Reals (US$60) to 580 Reals (US$248), while synchronized swimming finals will cost between 140 Reals (US$60) and 420 Reals (US$180). The cheapest ticket in aquatics will be for the 10K swim, which will cost either 40 Reals (US$17) or 70 Reals (US$30), depending on the view you want. <\/p>\n
The Brazilian Olympic Organizing Committee released the ticket prices today with the message that the plan is to give the public the ability to afford tickets to more events. The press release crowed that the cheapest tickets will be 40 Reals (US$17), which is the price point for many of the low-demand sports (besides marathon swimming).<\/p>\n
Compared to London 2012, Rio\u2019s prices for events are extremely low. Pool swimming finals, for example, cost about US$705 in 2012 based on that year\u2019s exchange rate.<\/p>\n
The Rio 2016 organizers will announce in November more information on purchasing tickets to events.<\/p>\n