Rio 2016 Olympics Extend the Registration Period for Tickets

By Ruth Faulkner, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Rio 2016 Olympic Games Committee have extended the registration period for Brazil residents wishing to enter in the draw for Olympic and Paralympic events tickets, until Wednesday May 6th. The registration process, which started on April 1st, was set to end on Thursday April 30th, but those who missed the window have now gained another week.

The organization reported that the cause of the extension the was difficulty with the selection of football (soccer) at the Itaquera Arena in São Paulo. According to Olympics Games Organizing Committee press office, “Those who have requested tickets and also want to watch football in São Paulo can now add these sessions into your cart, but at the end of the process, you must submit the request again.”

The ticket prices for the biggest sports event in the world vary from R$40 for qualifying rounds of football or rowing for example to R$1,200 for events such as the basketball or 100m track and field final. The Organizing Committee claims that 3.8 million tickets, more than half of the total tickets, will cost less than R$70. Popular Olympic sports such as tennis costs between R$220-700 for the final, whereas the beach volleyball final goes for R$350-1,200. The athletics qualifying competition has prices starting at R$100 and swimming at R$160.

Lance Donald, of the Mango Tree Hostel in Ipanema, registered for his tickets ahead of the original end date. He told of his excitement, signing up for many sports, “I have gone fairly hard in applying for tickets, choosing both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, track cycling, swimming, athletics, equestrian, beach volleyball, boxing, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and table tennis. If I get them all I’ll have to work a few years past retirement age!”

The issues in the football selection didn’t cause a problem for Mr. Donald, but he did admit some other annoyances in the selection process, saying, “The process itself was quite straightforward, not unlike buying something on Amazon. My biggest irritant was that only the lowest priced category have the option for half price for kids. My six year old daughter does rhythmic gymnastics and swimming at school and in order to give her a decent view I had to pay for a full priced adult ticket.”

In this registration stage, to qualify to enter you must be a resident of Brazil over eighteen years of age with a CPF number. Tickets can be selected for twenty sessions and up to four or six tickets per session. There will be two rounds of draws, in June and August 2015.

About sixty percent of the 7.5 million tickets for the Olympic Games will be available in the draw and then direct sales will begin in October, when tickets can be bought online. However, Olympic and Paralympic Opening and Closing Ceremony tickets will only be available in the draws. In June 2016, the box office will be open for both residents and non-residents of Brazil, which will accept all forms of payment.

Non-residents of Brazil will need to find out who is the authorized ticket re-seller (ATR) in their country by checking with the Rio 2016 organization. The UK pre-registration ballot, for example, is now open and closes on May 4th. A week later the ticket registration phase will open for UK residents. “Each ATR will have its own sales process and fans should seek this information from the company that will sell tickets in their territory,” said Rio 2016 Ticketing Director Donovan Ferreti.