Corporate sponsors are giving away thousands of donated tickets in an effort to fill the stands of Berlin’s historic Olympic Stadium, daily Berliner Zeitung reported on Monday.
Scalpers hoping for big payoffs like those they had during the 2006 World Cup in Germany are selling tickets once priced between €75 and €30 for half price. Many scalpers still have tickets for events that have already begun and have been forced to reduce prices even lower.
Click here for photo highlights from the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics.
National rail provider Deutsche Bahn (DB) is doing their part to fill seats by offering Bahn Card holders discounted seats. Those with Bahn100 cards, allowing for unlimited train tickets in a year, get free tickets, while those with Bahn 50 and Bahn 25 membership cards are receiving offers of 25 percent and 50 percent discounts, respectively, just as they would with their train tickets.
According to DB spokesman Jens-Oliver Voß, nearly 5,000 discounted tickets have been sold to Bahn Card holders, while even more were given to employees as prizes.
Deutsche Post invited its 2,500 employees to see the competition on Sunday. A Post spokeswoman told the Berliner Zeitung the offer was done as a “thank you” gift for their hard work. The company also offered volunteer information hosts working events at Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate two tickets for €5.
As sponsors, Deutsche Post and DB are both offered complimentary tickets by event organisers, and if they aren’t given away, those seats remain empty.
This also happened in German cities during the 2006 World Cup, when some stadiums had empty seats despite high demand for tickets from around the globe.
Neither spokesperson would confirm how many tickets they were given
Comments