SEA Games 2017 tickets sold out early

Although there are still 5 days left until the official opening, the organizing committee of the 2017 SEA Games has been able to completely erase the worry of "unsold" tickets, as ticket sales are taking place very quickly.

Fans take selfies with the 29th SEA Games mascot in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: N.Khoi

In an announcement on August 13, the 2017 SEA Games Organizing Committee said that tickets for many sports that Malaysians love, such as swimming, taekwondo, pencak silat and netball, have been sold out. The opening ceremony alone, which took place at the giant Bukit Jalil Stadium (with a capacity of more than 87,000 seats), has sold more than 90% of its tickets. Other sports such as gymnastics, badminton and karate also promise to sell out soon.

Tickets are very cheap

The fact that tickets for the 2017 SEA Games would sell out quickly was something the organizers had predicted, because the ticket prices were very cheap. Most events cost between 10 and 20 MYR (about 50,000 and 100,000 VND). The highlight match of Group A for men's football between Singapore and the host country (taking place on the night of August 14) cost only 10 MYR, while the ticket price for the opening ceremony was also only 20 MYR. Even a series of sports such as athletics, judo, boxing, shooting, table tennis, and volleyball were open to the public for free.

Mr. Fahmi Omar - Head of Communications of SEA Games 2017 - explained: "The SEA Games 2017 Organizing Committee sells cheap tickets because they do not need the revenue from ticket sales. We want to organize a sports event that is close to the fans, everyone can come to the stadium, regardless of rich or poor. We do not even intend to sell tickets, but selling tickets will help manage the number of people entering the stadium, preventing the risk of stadium collapse. Therefore, the ticket prices are cheap, like giving away."

The more spectators, the more sponsors like it

The factor that helped the Organizing Committee to lower the ticket prices like that came from the fact that the 2017 SEA Games attracted a lot of sponsors. Right from the beginning of planning, the Malaysian Government committed to the organization budget of only about 450 million MYR, or only 105 million USD.

In return, the 2017 SEA Games received an additional 80 million MYR from 17 sponsors, including 30 million in cash and 50 million from services and products. But up to this point, the amount of sponsorship has unexpectedly exceeded 100 million MYR with the appearance of many other sponsors, equivalent to 22.2% of the organization cost that the Malaysian Government had to spend.

Why did the 2017 SEA Games attract sponsors? “It has been 16 years since we last held a sporting event of this magnitude. We have prepared very carefully for many years, creating confidence for sponsors that we will organize a very eye-catching and attractive Games. It is a cyclical relationship, cheap tickets will help people come to the stadium more. And the more spectators, the more sponsors like it, so why sell expensive tickets?” - Mr. Fahmi said.

In addition, buying tickets is even easier for Malaysians as the organizers promote online ticket sales and mobile applications. Ticket counters are almost absent, but fans can still easily own tickets to enter the stadium.

According to TTO