--- description: High prices and security fears conspire to leave 300,000 tickets unsold title: Sochi Olympics Games May Have Empty Seats As 300,000 Tickets Unsold image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [olympics](/tag/olympics/) ## olympics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Sochi Olympics Faces Prospect of Empty Seats by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 21, 2014 1:32 PM CUT by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 21, 2014 1:32 PM CUT With less than three weeks to go before the winter Olympics’ opening ceremonies, Games organizers in Sochi, Russia still have [hundreds of thousands of tickets left to sell](http://bostonherald.com/sports/other/olympics/2014/01/sochi%5Fstill%5Fscrambling%5Fto%5Fsell%5Folympic%5Ftickets "undefined"). “Some people are scared it costs too much and other people are scared because of security,” Norwegian senior International Olympic Committee member [Gerhard Heiberg told the Associated Press](http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/sochi-scrambling-sell-olympic-tickets-21606504 "undefined"), explaining Sochi’s struggling sales figures. Russian President [Vladimir Putin invested in extra security](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-12/putin-sochi-ski-cameo-fails-to-ease-olympic-terror-fears.html "undefined") for the games following a series of deadly suicide bombings in nearby Volgograd last month. The Sochi 2014 organizing committee said in October that [more than 60 percent of tickets had been sold.](http://en.ria.ru/sochi2014/20131029/184406809.html "undefined") Last week, the organizing committee told the _AP_ that 70 percent have been sold but “we are expecting strong last-minute ticket sales and do not envisage having empty seats.” Given IOC documents seen by the _AP_, Sochi has 1.1 million total tickets and approximately 300,000 tickets left to sell. Listings of Olympics tickets on fan-to-fan sites have soared in recent weeks, [_Businessweek_ ](http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-15/sochi-olympics-ticket-sales-are-on-a-downhill-slope "undefined")[reports](http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-15/sochi-olympics-ticket-sales-are-on-a-downhill-slope "undefined")[_._](http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-15/sochi-olympics-ticket-sales-are-on-a-downhill-slope "undefined") “Availability is far greater than demand,” said Marlies Hoedemaker, secretary of a Dutch trade group for ticket re-sellers. \[[_AP_](http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/sochi-scrambling-sell-olympic-tickets-21606504 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/1462/sochi-olympics-faces-prospect-of-empty-seats/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/1462/sochi-olympics-faces-prospect-of-empty-seats/"},"headline":"Sochi Olympics Faces Prospect of Empty Seats","datePublished":"2014-01-21T13:32:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:13:54.465Z","description":"High prices and security fears conspire to leave 300,000 tickets unsold","url":"https://time.com/1462/sochi-olympics-faces-prospect-of-empty-seats/","keywords":["olympics","Winter Olympics","Sochi","tickets","2014 Sochi Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/olympics/","name":"olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/1462/sochi-olympics-faces-prospect-of-empty-seats/","name":"Sochi Olympics Faces Prospect of Empty Seats"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Sochi Expected to Be the Most Expensive Olympics Ever","description":"When Russia won the bid in 2007, president Vladimir Putin pledged $12 billion to preparing Sochi for the Olympics. 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