Features
Olympics Give Everyone The Local Discount
With the 2016 Summer Olympics opening Aug. 5, organizers have opened the local ticketing website to the general public, offering significantly lower prices than international resellers.
Photo: AP Photo / Felipe Dana, File
Tickets to the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro recently became available for the cheap as organizers opened up the local ticketing site to the public.
An original agreement between organizers and other vendors stipulated that the exchange rate of 2.35 reals to one dollar would remain fixed throughout the sales. However, the newly available site uses a more current exchange rate (about 3.25) and does not charge a service fee, meaning that a $215 ticket purchased through American company CoSport would go for about $150.
The 100,000 tickets to be made available July 21 will be the last batch sold, and Rio ticket director Donovan Feretti said there would be no free tickets given away.
He also said about 72 percent of available tickets (4.4 of 6.1 million) have been sold, and he expects sales to pick up as the games draw nearer, as Brazilians are often late buyers.
According to Feretti, about 75 percent of the tickets sold have been purchased by Brazilians, despite Rio and Brazil being embroiled in political protest regarding the Games and economic inequality.