2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

[bruce3404]

Just received a letter from the U of O asking for a two year commitment in order to receive priority seating at the 2012 Trials. This is a similar situation to 2008. Public tickets will go on sale in Spring of 2012 according to the letter. If you buy 2011 and 2012 season tickets, you move higher on the pecking order and are given the opportunity to buy tickets prior to the general sale. For some, the extra couple hundred bucks might be worth it, even if you can't use the season seats. They can be donated to Kid Sports in Eugene which would qualify for a tax deduction.

[bad hammy]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

For the last OT being a member of the Ducks booster club was supposed to get you priority seating. I ended up buying two sets of tickets, one through the Duck folks and one with the general public. The tickets acquired via the general public sale were much much better than those through the Duck club. However, using StubHub to resell the ducats acquired from the Ducks pretty much paid for that trip.

[bruce3404]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

I had a similar experience where they moved me from section C in the West out to section W; I eventually wound back up in "C" with the help of Stubhub and Craigslist and pretty much broke even. Would hate to have to go through the gymnastics again and I'm going to make it very clear to the ticket people that long term season seat holders shouldn't get shafted. The problem is that a lot of big football donors who never go to track meets are taken care of when the tickets to the Trials are allotted and I can't really argue that someone who kicks in $50,000 a year or more as a donation gets a better ticket than I, despite the fact that it ultimately doesn't seem fair. I've since been bumped up to section A, so maybe I'll at least cling to the West grandstand this time. I don't think there will be quite the demand of the 2008 Trials and a lot of locals who wanted to attend a "big event" will be satisfied that they did it last time around. This isn't to say that the attendance will be less, though, just the demand.

[gh]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

demand, I suspect, is largely tied to the possibilities for Ducks present and past. If you've got (and htis is way over the top) world champions Eaton and Wheating in the meet......

[Daisy]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

The problem is that a lot of big football donors who never go to track meets are taken care of when the tickets to the Trials are allotted

But how does that explain bad hammy getting better tickets through his public purchase compared to his Duck club tickets? That sounds a bit messed up.

[bruce3404]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

The problem is that a lot of big football donors who never go to track meets are taken care of when the tickets to the Trials are allotted

But how does that explain bad hammy getting better tickets through his public purchase compared to his Duck club tickets? That sounds a bit messed up.

Inexplicable. I had some friends from out of state who wound up in Section E in the West Grandstand while I was assigned out in Siberia and, no, I wasn't real happy about that considering that I had played by the rules and bought the season packages. While I understand that some of the best seats get assigned to very long term ticket holders, donors and sponsors, it was baffling that people could come in on the first day of public sales and get better tickets than us season seat holders.

[gh]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

Just guessing: they set aside X primo seats for "the family" (sponsors, etc.) and the demand for those seats is less than 100%. So when general sale starts, the leftovers go back into the pool. Not sure how you get around that without a complex trade-in process that would create an unmanageable bureaucracy.

[bad hammy]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

All the folks I know who bought 2008 OT tickets through the public sale (all purchased on day one) ended up with seats in the west grandstand, while the Duck club dudes ended up on the east side.

[Pego]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

All the folks I know who bought 2008 OT tickets through the public sale (all purchased on day one) ended up with seats in the west grandstand, while the Duck club dudes ended up on the east side.

This is exactly correct for me. Not having hammy's entrepreneurial spirit, I just called and cancelled the Duck tickets.

[Conor Dary]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

This all reminds me when I was a student there in 1976. When tickets were available I went to the ticket office, bought a season pass for $36 and had a seat 20 rows up, right on the finish line in the West Grandstand. A blissful time.

[gh]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

All the folks I know who bought 2008 OT tickets through the public sale (all purchased on day one) ended up with seats in the west grandstand, while the Duck club dudes ended up on the east side.

This is exactly correct for me. Not having hammy's entrepreneurial spirit, I just called and cancelled the Duck tickets.

But there are many (most?) seats in the East that I would consider superior to the West. I'd consider anything in the first 50m of the homestretch to be about the worst seats in the house. (and I'm a bit of a maverick in that my take is that for true enjoyment of a whole meet, on the finish line itself is one of the worst seats in the house)

[Conor Dary]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

All the folks I know who bought 2008 OT tickets through the public sale (all purchased on day one) ended up with seats in the west grandstand, while the Duck club dudes ended up on the east side.

This is exactly correct for me. Not having hammy's entrepreneurial spirit, I just called and cancelled the Duck tickets.

But there are many (most?) seats in the East that I would consider superior to the West. I'd consider anything in the first 50m of the homestretch to be about the worst seats in the house. (and I'm a bit of a maverick in that my take is that for true enjoyment of a whole meet, on the finish line itself is one of the worst seats in the house)

I agree. Though it has been a long while, I saw a lot of meets sitting in the East Grandstand and the view there is much better, in fact it was my favorite place to sit opposite the finish line area, than those in the far North end of the West Side. You can't see squat up there. I rarely sat in the West Stands, a fact the locals are also onto, if you can't get near the finish line on the West.

[bad hammy]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

Most meets I sit on whatever side is opposite the finish line just to avoid crowds. Not really a viable strategy for the OTs at Oregon (worked great in Sacto - and thanks to the breeze it was cooler there too).

[8aldP|23]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

I just got my letter too. I was put in the East Grandstand for the 2008 Trials and at the top row was unable to see the scoreboards without ducking down. The finish line seemed like it was a mile away! I got in on the "before sale to public" option and was pretty heated about where they put me. I ended up next to some great folks and had a great time. Next year I'd be very happy in B, C, D or E. (C is the best!)

[jkjoregon]

Re: 2012 Olympic Trials Tickets

I just got my letter too. Next year I'd be very happy in B, C, D or E. (C is the best!)

I have seats in section C now ( which I really like) , and also got my "letter". Understand I've been a season ticket holder for over 30 years paying for 4-5 seats. In 2008, I was in section B and got put in Section F-far north end of West grandstands- for the Trials. I got a feeling that for the 2012 Trials in Yogi Berra's phrase, it will be " like deja-vu, all over again"

O.K., so I am feeling a little sorry for myself. 8-) :P Kind of like I was expecting lobster, and I only got steak. :lol: