Add The California Post on Google ESPN reporter Holly Rowe experienced an all-too-familiar feeling for ticket buyers: excitement over landing seats, followed by sticker shock at the final cost.
Rowe shared a receipt showing she paid $3,300 for two Category B tickets to a LA 28 Olympics track and field mixed final at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum wtih an added $793 service fee, bringing the total to $4,093.
The charge amounted to roughly 24 percent of the ticket price.
ESPN’s Holly Rowe blasted LA28’s $793 service fee after paying $4,093 for two Olympic track and field tickets. NBAE via Getty Images “I am SO excited I was able to purchase tickets for @LA28 until I got my receipt,” Rowe wrote on X. “I work so hard for my money to splurge on this once in a lifetime experience but the service fees should NOT be sliding scale.”
Rowe argued that processing two expensive tickets should not cost more than handling cheaper seats.
“Same service for a $100 ticket as a $1000 ticket,” she wrote. “THIS is NOT fair to fans.”
Her complaint added to the growing list of frustrations surrounding LA28, including about ticket prices and availability. Organizers have promoted affordability, saying nearly half of all tickets would cost less than $200 and advertising a limited number of $28 seats for local residents.
Many early buyers, however, described a different experience.
The Los Angeles Times interviewed 18 people who purchased LA28 tickets during the first release. Some secured 12 tickets for $336, while others spent several thousand dollars after finding limited inventory for popular events.
One of the variations of the 2028 Olympic logo Los Angeles Times via Getty Images One buyer spent nearly $13,000 on 20 tickets, while another paid more than $4,100 for six gymnastics seats. Several said they exceeded their budgets because attending the Olympics in their hometown felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Others said affordable seats were already gone by the time their purchasing windows opened, forcing them to choose expensive options, less familiar events or nothing at all.
At this rate, perhaps the best way to see the Games is to offer LA28 your free labor.
Another major ticket release is scheduled for August after LA28 reported roughly 12 million registrations from more than 200 countries.
For Rowe, the issue was not the $3,300 price of the tickets she knowingly selected. It was the additional $793 charge that transformed an exciting purchase into another example of fans feeling punished at checkout.
