from Corporate Watch

Official prestige tickets for the 2012 Olympics, which include food and drink, are going to be some of the most expensive in the history of sport, at £4,500 per person.

These tickets cannot be sold as single tickets, but only in blocks of ten. In addition, conditions of purchase will mean that an individual or company buying hospitality tickets for the opening or closing ceremonies of the Games will have to pay a minimum of £270,000, because seats for other events much also be bought at the same time. The only sports tickets to ever be more expensive were those for the 2011 Super Bowl in Texas at £5,545 each. However, once tax is added, the Olympics tickets become £5,400, so together with the ‘minimum buy’ requirements the tickets are not far off the most expensive sports tickets in history.

The Property world is getting excited by the interest supposedly being showed in the Athletes’ Village and the Media Centre. Of course, expressions of interest are not the same as money on the table. But even if the money does materialise what does this signify? That property tycoons see an opportunity to make a profit? And that profit will be made at a loss to the public purse of at least £150million on the Village and an unknown sum on the Media Centre.

The Telegraph has suggested the 2012 Olympics will provide a key test for the new Bribery Act. Corporate hospitality is supposed to come under scrutiny. Really? The whole point about this kind of event is the bidding war which requires nations to chuck goodies at international sports bodies. Freebies are what the IOC and others expect while sponsors and businesses have always used tickets to arts and sports events as a way to make friends and influence people.

Research paper into the experiences of small businesses forced to move to make way for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

That recent bit of bad publicity about the North/south divide - South gets Olympic contracts seems to have got the spin merchants exercised again.

In 2005, when London won the 2012 Olympics, Seb Coe of Locog Ltd wrote "The London 2012 Games will provide a unique opportunity for businesses of all shapes and sizes across the UK, providing essential goods and services for this historic event." Unsurprisingly, as with most Olympic promises, the reality has turned out to be somewhat different.

Olympic Games Impact Study: Final Report Dec 2005

Produced by Price Waterhouse Coopers for the DCMS to assess the likely national, regional and local impacts of hosting the Olympics in London.

Not an outcome I expected. The Olympics are beginning to make me feel quite sorry for business! Small, independent hotels and reataurants will find themselves unable to profit from advance bookings. PriceWaterhouseCoopers is assisting European Olympic Committees, who are worried about businesses going bankrupt, by setting up accounts in which money for bookings can be kept but not paid on to the companies until the event. They will be able to see their money but not actually get their hands on it! This delayed payment scheme is called escrow.