ORGANISERS OF NEXT year's Paris Olympics promised relatively modest prices and "egalitarian" access to events, thanks to an online system meant to revolutionize ticket sales and bring the masses to stadiums and arenas for as little as $26.
As the month-long opening round of sales winds down, however, many "lucky" winners chosen to shop for the first 3 million tickets (out of 10 million total) are feeling frustrated, angry and cheated because their only option during the 48-hour purchasing window was paying at least 200 euros ($212) per ticket for the few remaining events on offer. And because the ticketing system requires buying packages for multiple sports, overall costs for many buyers ran into thousands of dollars.
By the time English teacher Amélie Beney and her 9-year-old son won the lottery last week to log in to the Olympic ticket office, affordable tickets for many events were gone, and all but one of their preferred sports-BMX, water polo and soccer was sold out.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Murdoch ally helps Ambani build media empire in India
SOHEE KIM PR SANJAI
Pandya, Dube & Rinku: Can they finish for India at T20 World Cup?
GOING INTO THE 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia Dinesh Karthik was assigned the finisher role and the batting lineup was built accordingly.
Nestle adds sugar to infant milk and cereal, finds report
A NEW REPORT has revealed that Nestle, the world's largest consumer goods and manufacturer of baby formula, is adding sugar to infant milk and cereal products sold in India, and other Asian, and African countries.
India-made Daimler's electric mini truck to hit the road soon
INDIA WILL BE host to German trucking giant Daimler's only electric vehicle plant outside of Europe and Japan when it launches a locally-made electric light cargo truck in FY25.
Samsung eyes ₹10,000 cr from India TV biz this year
SOUTH KOREAN GIANT Samsung is targeting a turnover of ₹10,000 crores for its television business in India this year, driven by growth in sales of its mid to-premium segment models, said Mohandeep Singh, senior VP, consumer electronics business in India.
Microsoft AI Copilot speed boost for coding
WHEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPER Nikolai Avteniev got his hands on a preview version of Microsoft's Copilot coding assistant in 2021, he quickly saw the potential.
US, China debt pose risks for global public finances: IMF
THE WORLD's TWO great economic rivals, China and the US, will drive much of the increase in global public debt over the next five years, with US spending creating trouble for many other countries by keeping interest rates high, officials at the International Monetary Fund said in a report.
Language models in consumer tech
This move is designed to ensure better user experience & privacy
'Data centres' energy use doubles every four years'
Data centres are significant energy consumers, using about 2% of the world's power and emitting carbon dioxide equivalent to the airline industry.
Vi FPO: Foreign players invest big; about ₹5,400 crore raised
GQG, Fidelity buy almost 40% of the anchor investor portion