LONDON, England ● The London Paralympics have sold more tickets than any previous Games and been broadcast to more people in more countries, organisers said on Thursday.
More than 2.7 million tickets have been sold for the London Games which is 900,000 more than in Beijing four years ago.
Organisers had originally set a target of 35 million pounds in ticket revenue, but Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London organising committee (LOCOG), announced that the final figure was likely to be nearer 45 million.
“To put it in context of previous Games, we have almost sold 900,000 more tickets than Beijing, which is amazing,” International Paralympic Committee chief executive Xavi Gonzalez told reporters.
“And to put it in context again, we only started to sell tickets to the Paralympics in Atlanta 1996.”
Deighton attributed part of the success to the affordability of tickets, with more than half available for 10 pounds or less, three quarters for less than 20 and 95 percent for under 50 pounds.
“If you look at the demographic in the park, it’s great to see families come in big groups and have a wonderful day out,” he said.
“The interest in the Paralympic Games and the attendance at the Paralympic Games has been quite extraordinary from the start.”
Paralympic broadcast rights have been sold to more than 100 countries around the world.
“We have had outstanding media coverage online, on radio and on TV, both nationally and internationally,” Gonzalez said.
“As a good example the victory the other day of Alan Oliveira knocked out all the football coverage in Brazil and you can probably understand that is quite a big deal.”