One Million Glasgow 2014 Tickets Go On Sale

More than a million tickets for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow have gone on sale, with Monday morning’s 10am launch marked with swimmer and new Glasgow 2014 ambassador Michael Jamieson diving into the newly re-furbished Tollcross International Swimming Centre for the first time.

Fans now have until 16th September to place their requests with high demand events allocated by a ‘fair and simple draw’, according to organisers.

Jamieson, who was announced as one of the latest Glasgow 2014 ambassadors last week, said: ‘Glasgow 2014 is going to be one of the highlights of my career and I’m delighted to be an Official Ambassador for the Games. As well as being an athlete the great thing for me as a sports fan is being able to attend other events and I can’t wait to get to see as much as I can at Glasgow 2014.’ 

The ticket-buying process will be operated by Ticketmaster, who sold 10.9 million Olympics tickets but came in for criticism over the system of bidding for batches of tickets. However, the Commonwealth Games organisers claimed that lessons have been learned from the London Olympics ticketing problems, with an emphasis on keeping the ticketing process simple and making sure that payment was easy.

Ticket prices start from £15 for adults, with half-price concessions on the cheapest tickets available for children and the over-60s.

Organisers said about 60% of the tickets were priced at £25 or less and all included use of public transport in the local area on the day of the event.

Tickets for the opening ceremony – which takes place on Wednesday 23rd July – will cost between £40 and £250. The closing ceremony on Sunday 3rd August will be slightly cheaper, with a top price of £200.

Glasgow 2014 Chairman, Lord Smith of Kelvin, added: ‘Glasgow 2014 in every sense is a Games for everyone and a fantastic opportunity to experience world-class sport up close in one of the world’s great sporting cities. We look forward to welcoming elite athletes from across the Commonwealth and the best welcome we can give them are stadia packed with supporters cheering them on.’

‘Now is your chance to be part of this friendly force of fans for what I hope will be a great moment for sport, for Glasgow and Scotland.’

‘This is your opportunity to make sure you are part of the experience, part of the action and enjoy all the thrills and spills which Glasgow 2014 will have on offer. We want as many people as possible to be able to enjoy live sport and really make these Games the best they can be.’

The 11-day games, which begin on 23rd July 2014, will see 4,500 athletes compete in 17 sports across 14 venues.