SPORTS
September 2, 2019
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 9
Want Tokyo Olympic tickets? No problem if you have $60,000
By Stephen Wade
The Associated Press
OKYO — Having trouble getting tickets for next
year’s Tokyo Olympics?
That’s no problem if you have $60,000 to spare.
Tokyo Olympic organizers are offering high-end
hospitality packages to Japan residents with prices
soaring to 6.35 million yen — about $60,000. This is good
for the opening and closing ceremony, nine days of track
and field with luxury seating, and sumptuous dining.
Low-end packages dip down to about $1,500 for one
session at a less popular event.
Tokyo is shaping up as a very pricey Olympics.
Ticket demand is unprecedented, so unofficial re-selling
likely will flourish. Hotel rates are soaring. And getting
here will be costly, particularly for people travelling from
the Americas and Europe.
“I don’t know if I can afford to go to the Olympics,” Brant
Feldman, a Los Angeles-based sports agent, told The
Associated Press. He’s attended seven straight Olympics
and represents American and Canadian athletes for AGM
Sports. “For the average family right now to head to the
Olympics, it’s going to be the most expensive in history.”
Organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics say the
luxurious hospitality packages are an “opportunity for
family, friends, and business contacts” to enjoy the games.
In the words of organizers, here’s what’s included with the
tickets:
w specially selected champagne, saké, and beers
w gourmet dining menu prepared by top international
chefs
w fine wines chosen by our sommelier
w elegant commemorative souvenir VIP access pass
w first-class personal service capable of dealing with any
request
w event host and celebrity guests appearances
Hospitality packages, of course, are aimed at the
wealthy, targeting executives who treat the Olympics as a
venue for doing business and schmoozing with sports as
an alluring sideshow.
There’s also an old-fashioned way for residents of Japan
to get scarce tickets: a so-called “second-chance” lottery
that is now closed. Results will be announced this month,
T
OVERPRICED OLYMPICS. A man rides a bicycle (left photo) past sailboats at Enoshima Yacht Harbor, a venue for sailing at the Tokyo 2020
Olympics, on Enoshima Island in Fujisawa, west of Tokyo. In the right photo, a restaurant worker on Enoshima Island cooks squid. Tokyo is shaping up
as a very pricey Olympics, with the cost of tickets, hotels, and travel soaring. (AP Photos/Jae C. Hong)
Australia-based Kingdom Sports Group, an official
and another lottery for Japan residents will be held in the
reseller that deals primarily with Asia and Africa, said on
fall.
For now, those living outside Japan must go through social media that Tokyo is “30 times more popular” than
Authorized Ticket Resellers, which are deluged with London was in 2012. London is often seen as the
unprecedented demand. They also offer high-end benchmark for Olympic interest.
Ken Hanscom, a ticketing expert who runs Los
packages and are allowed to tack on a 20% service charge
to each ticket. And many of the best tickets are tied to Angeles-based TicketManager, told AP, “This is the
biggest (Olympic) demand ever — by far.”
expensive hotels.
The big winner could be the Paralympics, which open a
A random search of well-known hotel booking sites by
AP found prices for most 3- and 4-star hotels between few weeks after the Olympics close on August 9, 2020. The
$1,000 and 1,500 per night with few available. There have lottery in Japan for the Paralympics recently opened with
been complaints that many hotels are cancelling previous 2.3 million tickets available.
Just over 80% of Japan residents who applied got
reservations to secure the markup.
Even Japan’s famous capsule hotels — or sleep pods — nothing in the first Olympic ticket lottery earlier this
will cost more to crawl inside with prices up three or four year. Of those who landed tickets in June, many got far
fewer than they expected.
times on booking sites.
Organizers say 3.22 million tickets were sold in the first
In a statement to AP, Tokyo organizers said they are
working with “the government and the accommodation phase. Demand appears to exceed supply by at least 10
times. Another 680,000 tickets are available in this
industry and travel industry in order to control prices.”
Quoting a government report, organizers say there are lottery, but only for those who were shut out the first time.
Tokyo organizers say there are 7.8 million tickets for
300,000 rooms “in different classes” in Tokyo and in
the Olympics. They estimate between 70% and 80% will go
neighboring prefectures.
Olympic athletes are guaranteed housing and have to the general public in Japan. The difference between the
access to a few tickets for event sessions in which they larger and smaller percentage is 780,000 tickets, giving
participate. After that, family and friends are on their organizers flexibility in how tickets are distributed.
The remaining tickets are sold abroad, or go to sponsors,
own.
“If your son or daughter qualifies for the Olympics in national Olympic committees, and sports federations.
Organizers hope to earn $800 million from ticket sales,
2020, I don’t know how any of those families are going to
be able to afford the airline tickets, the Airbnb, the hotels, a big chunk of income for the privately funded, $5.6-billion
operating budget.
or get the tickets,” Feldman said.
A report released last year by the national government’s
Those planning to wait until the last minute to book
rooms, which sometimes become available because Board of Audit said Japan is likely to spend $25 billion
organizers typically overestimate the number of rooms overall to prepare the games. This is public money, except
for the operating budget. Organizers dispute the figure
needed and the number of foreign visitors, could miss out.
and say it’s about $12 billion, though what are Olympics
It may not happen this time.
Tokyo’s demand is driven partly by a giant metropolitan costs — and what are not — is subject to heated debate.
Back in 2013, Tokyo projected total costs of about $7.5
area of 35 million, its safe streets, and long-time support
billion in its winning bid for the games.
for the Olympics.
Sun Wen appointed China football vice president
By Christopher Bodeen
The Associated Press
BIG-LEAGUE SHUTOUT. Starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi of the
Seattle Mariners throws a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays during a
baseball game in Toronto. Kikuchi threw his first big-league shutout in
the game. (Fred Thornhill/The Canadian Press via AP)
Seattle’s Yusei Kikuchi
throws 2-hitter for first shutout
By Ian Harrison
The Associated Press
ORONTO — After watching his team use seven
pitchers in the previous game, Seattle’s Yusei
Kikuchi wanted to give the bullpen a break.
His first big-league shutout fit the bill perfectly.
Kikuchi needed just 96 pitches to complete a two-hitter
that led the Mariners over the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-0.
Kikuchi (5-8) struck out eight, walked one, and retired
the final 14 batters in his first win since beating Baltimore
on June 23. The rookie left-hander went 0-3 with a 6.53
ERA in eight starts covering 40 innings between victories.
“It being a bullpen day yesterday for the team, I felt like
I was able to step up,” Kikuchi said through a translator.
“I haven’t been getting the results I’ve wanted to and I felt
like I was good for the team today, so I was proud of that.”
The 28-year-old Kikuchi was a star in Japan before
signing a $56-million, four-year deal with Seattle in the
offseason. This was his 26th start for the Mariners and
first complete game.
“Yusei was really focused today,” manager Scott Servais
said. “Outstanding. Heck of an outing. If you can throw a
complete game anywhere at any time in the big leagues in
less than 100 pitches, it really doesn’t get any better than
that.”
T
EIJING
—
Former
FIFA
(Fédération
Internationale de Football Association) female
player of the year Sun Wen has been elected vice
president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) as
China seeks to revamp its lagging national program.
Sun, who became captain of the Chinese team in 2000,
is currently director of the women’s youth training
department at the CFA.
Sun scored 16 goals over two Olympic and four World
Cup tournaments, including the 1999 edition in which
China was runner-up to the United States. She also
played two seasons with the Atlanta Beat of the
now-defunct Women’s United Soccer Association.
In addition, Chen Xuyuan, former president of
Shanghai International Port Group, which owns China
Super League team Shanghai SIPG, was elected CFA
president and former China national team coach Gao
Hongbo and deputy sports minister Du Zhaocai were also
voted in as vice chairmen.
The Chinese women’s team is 16th in the FIFA
rankings and its men are 71st.
Coached by former Italy manager Marcello Lippi, China
is pushing ahead with a reform program issued in 2015
that envisions the men qualifying for the 2022 World Cup
and becoming a top-ranked national team by 2050. That
includes allowing the China Super League to operate
along more market-oriented lines with greater
independence from the CFA.
It would also allow nationalized Chinese players onto
the national team, including London-born Nico Yennaris
and, most recently, Brazil-born Elkeson, who, while
having no Chinese heritage, qualified under FIFA’s
B
SOCCER SUPPORTER. Chinese star and winner of the 1999
Golden Ball during the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Sun Wen, stands during
the FIFA world player of 1999 gala at the Palais des Congres in downtown
Brussels, in this January 24, 2000 file photo. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe,
File)
five-year residency requirement.
China’s World Cup qualifying campaign begins away
against the Maldives on September 10.
The country’s lack of success in international football —
having qualified for only one World Cup in 2002 under
Bora Milutinovic — has long confounded China’s leaders.
President and head of the ruling Communist Party, Xi
Jinping, has taken a personal interest in changing its
fortunes, ordering a massive program of youth leagues,
football academies, and pitch construction.