In 3 days, tickets worth Rs 1 cr sold

Commonwealth Games organisers have already sold Rs 1 crore worth of tickets for various events, barely three days after the sale of tickets opened for the public.

The cash registers started ringing on Friday when the tickets were  officially launched but over the next two days, they appeared to be on fire.

As many as 9,366 tickets were sold, including those for the Opening and Closing ceremonies. By Sunday, the total revenue earned was in the vicinity of Rs 1,01,73,860.

Tickets to the opening ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, which will feature big Bollywood stars, in what has been promoted as a spectacular event, are flying off the shelves.

“What we have realised from talking to people in Delhi is that everyone wants to watch at least one Commonwealth Games event,” said Lalit Bhanot, Secretary General, Organising Committee.

“So, when tickets to  the bigger events will be sold out, people would shift to the less-popular events as well,”
he added.

The organisers expect to sell around 17 lakh tickets in all, with earnings hovering around the Rs 60 crore figure.

After the ceremonies, hockey, athletics, swimming and tennis and squash are raking in the moolah the most.

Hockey was expected to be popular, and swimming also has a fan following.

“If Usain Bolt (Jamaican; world’s fastest athlete) confirms participation, athletics will get more crowd,” said a senior organising committee official.

Retail points like Central Bank of India branches and Hero Honda outlets are doing brisk business.

Availability will increase once bulk group booking starts in August.

But what is really fuelling the soaring sales is the online ticket counter.

“Around 60 per cent of the sales are online, and the rest are from retail outlets,” he said.

Indian Rail Catering and Tour Company (IRCTC) has been appointed as the official ticketing agency for CWG 2010 in consortium with Broad Vision  Systems and TicketPro.

IRCTC will provide tickets through the Internet, call centres and a network of retail outlets.

Each ticket holder can travel free of charge by Delhi Metro trains and DTC buses to reach and return from the venue on the day of the event for which  they hold a ticket.