Paris Olympics fans call ticket pack ‘a racket’ amid rocky start to sales

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.

There were tickets for a soccer match at 50 euros ($53) but Beney would also have to buy at least two tickets for two additional events. Available tickets included basketball or handball at 150 euros ($160), swimming at 230 euros ($244) and a whopping 690 euros ($732) for a qualifying event in track and field.

“Who can afford tickets at that price?" Beney asked. "I can’t.”

Beney was disappointed and said her son’s enthusiasm for attending their home Olympics on his 10th birthday vanished as they logged off without buying anything.

“I really wanted to have tickets for the Olympics. I wanted my son to live that unique experience … in our city,” Beney said. “I became disillusioned (with the ticket system) and the prices. This is just insane.”

To buy tickets in the first round, your name had to be drawn from a lottery. Since Feb. 13, the lucky winners have been notified by email of their 48-hour window to buy between three and up to 30 tickets in at least three different events, out of 32