Story highlights
London 2012 organizers to begin another batch of ticket sales on Friday
A group of 20,000 people will be eligible to apply for 900,000 seats in the first 31 hours
Applicants who missed out on first round will get five-day window to buy four tickets
Babies under 12 months old will now be allowed into some venues without a ticket
British sports fans who struck out twice trying to land Olympic tickets will get a third chance starting Friday.
Only 20,000 people will be eligible to apply for the 900,000 seats on offer in the first 31 hours. These hopefuls failed to get any tickets during the first two rounds of ticket selling for London 2012.
Then one million applicants, who got no tickets in the first round last year, will get an exclusive five-day window to buy up to four tickets on a first come, first served basis.
Organizers hope this will ease criticism they faced when many people with UK addresses were unable to buy tickets during the first two rounds, due to high demand.
“We promised we would prioritize these fans when we released the contingency tickets, which is exactly what we are doing,” London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said in a press release.
Most people from outside the UK will continue to have to buy tickets through authorized resellers in each country ahead of the Olympics’ opening ceremony on July 27.
For those who want to experience to the Olympic Park without Games tickets, they will soon be able to buy access to the grounds for £10 ($16). Some 70,000 access tickets are becoming available, so fans will be able to watch events on large-screen televisions inside the park during the first week.
Similarly priced tickets will be made available for access to the Wimbledon Hill and big screen during Olympic tennis matches.
After much criticism, organizers have also confirmed that babies under 12 months old will be allowed into some London venues without a ticket, but not venues with “one person, one ticket” policies like Wembley Stadium and the O2 Centre.
