Over 90 per cent of public tickets sold for Glasgow 2014

By Gary Anderson

November 4 - A total of 92 per cent of tickets available to the general public for next year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow have been sold with the remaining 76,000 going on sale tomorrow Tuesday at 10am GMT on a first-come, first-served basis, it was announced today.

Organisers claimed that during the initial four-week application window which ran from August 19 to September 16, more than 2.3 million requests were received for the one million tickets available for the Games next year, with 30,000 customers trying to buy tickets on the Glasgow 2014 website at the same time.

Last month, a special six-day sales window was created for those fans who were unsuccessful on tickets first time round, with the first two days exclusively open to those who missed out altogether, the second two days open to those who secured some of their initial requests while the final two days were open to all applicants.

Of the tickets sold to date, 57 per cent were bought by people living in Scotland, with 40 per cent going to people living in the rest of the United Kingdom, while three per cent were sold outside non-Commonwealth countries.

Tickets to Commonwealth nations are from an additional pot and are sold through the various Commonwealth Games Associations (CGA).

Glasgow 2014 organisers claim that the swimming events at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre could have been sold-out ten times over

Organisers revealed that 60 per cent of tickets sold were priced at £25 ($40/€30) or under, with 22 per cent being sold to under 16s or over 60s, while it is also claimed that 11 of the 17 sports on the Games programme have been sold out.

Overall, 70 per cent of the Glasgow 2014 tickets were made available to the public, while organisers reserved nine per cent for the CGAs and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).

A further eight per cent and seven per cent of tickets are going to sponsors and broadcast partners respectively, with one per cent reserved for Games partners and five per cent put aside for "contingency" purposes.

"The demand for Glasgow 2014 tickets has been simply incredible and we want to thank everyone for their massive response to our invitation to be part of making Glasgow 2014 a great moment in sporting history," said Glasgow 2014 chief executive David Grevemberg, speaking at the Clyde Auditorium which will host weighlifting and powerlifting events during the Games.

"Already Glasgow 2014 can show it will deliver great home crowds and an impactful boost to tourism as we welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors to Glasgow in the year Scotland welcomes the world.

"We are really proud of meeting the ambitions of making the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games accessible, affordable and available to as many people as possible.

"What a fantastic position to be in this far out from the Games.

"What a fantastic fanfare for athletes across the Commonwealth setting their goals for Glasgow.

"I want to once again say a huge thank you to everyone, and particularly the home support here in Scotland, for helping ensure the success of this event and for such an amazing response."

The remaining 76,000 tickets for Glasgow 2014 are going on sale tomorrow morning at 10am GMT

With 11 sports sold out, the remaining tickets going on sale tomorrow are for badminton, boxing, lawn bowls, rugby sevens and weightlifting, with more than 50 per cent of all remaining tickets priced at £15 ($24/€18) for adults and £7.50 ($12/€8.90) for under 16s and over 60s.