LA28 organizers spoke out amid criticism from sports fans and locals over high prices and limited availability following the initial drop of Olympics tickets.
Allison Katz Mayfield, LA28 SVP of revenue, addressed the backlash during an appearance on “Good Day LA” Thursday, where she defended that “locals had the best access to the widest breadth of tickets.” Per Katz Mayfield, tickets priced at $28 “went quickly,” noting hundreds of thousands got scooped up during the presale.
Though LA28 stated that 30% of remaining tickets were priced under $200, many users claimed that high profile events—including the Olympics’ opening and closing ceremonies—only showed premium seats as available, which cost as high as $5,000. Per event organizers, there is a 24% service fee added to the cost of tickets, and includes fees for infrastructure, payment processing and customer service.
“If you want to sit in the absolute best seat at the highest demand event, those do go for over $1,000 for sure,” Katz Mayfield said. “But this isn’t your only chance to get those affordable tickets.”
The current drop window, known as “Drop 1,” will stay open until April 19, where those selected are able to purchase up to 12 Olympic session tickets. However, Katz Mayfield shared there wasn’t any new inventory added as Drop 1 entered its global phase on Thursday.
Those not selected for Drop 1 were automatically entered into future ticket releases, which are scheduled for later in the year. Additionally, more registration opportunities for ticket drops will be coming in the months to come.
In fact, Katz Mayfield warned Olympics fans to avoid purchasing tickets on resellers, at least for now.
“If you’re seeing tickets on resale platforms in 2026, they are not verified,” she said. “They may be speculative.”
LA28 organizers also reiterated to the outlet that nearly 50% of their Olympic tickets were available for under $200, and that more than three-quarters of all the tickets, including finals events, have been priced under $400. They also shared that about 5% of tickets cost more than $1,000.
The ticketing controversy isn’t the first to hit LA28 in recent months. Casey Wasserman, the embattled chairperson of the LA28 Olympics committee, has faced calls to resign in the aftermath of his Epstein-related revelations. Still, even after thousands of petitioners and locally elected officials, including Mayor Karen Bass, spoke out against Wasserman, the LA28 board — which consists of figures like Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jeanie Buss, Kevin McCarthy and Jessica Alba — continue to stand with him.
