Tickets for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics went on presale for local residents on April 2, sparking initial excitement that quickly turned to dismay over high costs and a hefty service fee. Southern California locals, where most events will occur, along with Oklahoma City residents hosting canoe slalom and softball, accessed a lottery for these initial slots. Prices started at $28 but climbed into the thousands, with popular events like gymnastics and track rapidly depleting affordable options.
High Prices and Service Fees Frustrate Buyers
Shoppers encountered a 24% service fee on top of base prices, which organizers direct toward Games operations like customer support. Many $28 tickets vanished swiftly, forcing purchases at much higher rates. Kathy Dorn, a Los Angeles resident, entered the lottery on April 3 morning and noted the rapid sell-out of gymnastics seats. “Most gymnastics tickets sold out during my time slot; I didn’t expect them to be gone that quickly,” she said. “Overall, I found the prices quite high, and it didn’t seem like they released additional inventory for people with later time slots, which made it even more frustrating.”
Dorn ultimately spent around $1,200 on tickets for rhythmic and artistic gymnastics preliminaries plus sailing finals. She skipped swimming due to the $558 per-ticket cost for a two-hour session. Another buyer, Tony Anthony, allocated $11,000 for eight track and field tickets, including nearly $400 in fees. “It’s a choice,” Anthony stated. “We didn’t go top-tier, but we were in the $1,000 range per ticket. You hear things like: ‘Tickets as low as $28’ and there were none available.”
Organizers Defend Pricing Strategy
Reynold Hoover, CEO of the LA28 organizing committee, emphasized that hundreds of thousands of $28 tickets—the lowest in modern Olympic history—sold to locals in southern California and Oklahoma City. “The success of the Locals Presale speaks for itself,” Hoover said in a statement.
Spokesperson Gigi Gutierrez explained that prices for sought-after events like swimming and soccer align with premium spectacles such as the Super Bowl or the 2026 World Cup across the US, Mexico, and Canada. “We tried to overweight those [$28 tickets] into this locals drop because we wanted to make sure local Angelenos had the greatest access to our $28 tickets,” she noted. “We do have a really affordable group of tickets to try to balance that for the best seats in the house being more expensive.”
LA28 sets these prices to achieve a balanced budget exceeding $7.1 billion, sparing taxpayers from shortfalls seen in past Games in Greece and Brazil, which incurred debts and maintenance issues.
Inglewood Locals Voice Broader Concerns
In Inglewood, site of the opening ceremony, swimming, and basketball, residents worry about disruptions like traffic and noise without affordable access. The area boasts new venues including SoFi Stadium for the Rams and concerts, plus Intuit Dome for the Clippers, yet downtown businesses struggle economically. Inglewood native Yolanda Davidson captured the sentiment: “We shouldn’t just have to bear all of the burden of the Olympics; we should be able to participate.”
