My goodness, how can this possibly be true? Stadium seating for 2020 Olympic men's marathon finish is SOLD OUT.

Online ticket firms buy up all available tickets and then resell them at a higher price?

Why would this be surprising? The Japanese are clearly very interested in the marathon. I've read many times on these forums that while Japan lacks the super-fast athletes, they are very deep in the marathon.

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8690444

Brofest 2.0 wrote:

Why would this be surprising?

Definitely. As a follower of marathons in Japan, not surprising at all.

quote]rojo wrote:

Anyone got a theory on this?

[/quote]

Is stating the population of Tokyo a theory?

There are 40 million people in the Tokyo Metro area. There are another 25 million in the Kansai region, which is 2.5 hours by train. Most of them aren't poor, can afford a ticket and at least some interest in national athletics.

Also, sitting around with nothing to do is an everyday occurrence at many Japanese jobs. They will probably have some old guys give speeches for 2 hours and everyone will patiently listen or fall asleep.

How many are actually available to the general public? Media, NGB and sponsor allotment numbers are huge.

Well it doesn't mean they are sold out at all. It means they sold out the tickets available to the Japanese public. Not really surprising given its the most popular event in track and field in Japan.

huh, did the marathon jump the shark?

rojo wrote:

That implies that the stadium seating for the men' smarathon is sold out. How in the world can that be true? Their going to fill an entire stadium with marathon fans sitting there for 2 plus hours waiting for the race to finish? There is nothing else in the stadium that day.

Anyone got a theory on this?

Yep. You're clueless.

You really believe the Japan organizers have nothing planned for those who elect to fill the stadium for the finish of the marathon?

I lived in London for the Olympics, chance of success in the ticket lottery was probably similar, I think I got one pair of tickets to beach volleyball despite applying for loads.

But it is just the host country allocation that is fully allocated. Every participating country also gets an allocation, although I am not sure how many.

rojo, I don't think you'd feel safe in a city that is 99% non-AMERICAN-BORN! anyway.......best stay home.

I bet it's like the Super Bowl where very few tickets are available to the general public and most of them go to the well connected

Golly!

"Anyone got a theory on this?"

By theory you probably mean hypothesis, but either way, why would you want a bunch of (un)educated guesses, wouldn't you as a, ahem, responsible journalist, want the facts?

Guessing here wrote:

Online ticket firms buy up all available tickets and then resell them at a higher price?

The Japanese government passed an anti-scalping law ahead of the Olympics. This seems unlikely, particularly given the lottery system.

Culture. National pride is still a big deal in Japan. This is a great showcase for their country to the world. The marathon is a seminal Olympic event, so it's a chance to be part of history. Plenty of people live close. Not surprising at all.

rojo wrote:

That implies that the stadium seating for the men' smarathon is sold out. How in the world can that be true? Their going to fill an entire stadium with marathon fans sitting there for 2 plus hours waiting for the race to finish? There is nothing else in the stadium that day.

How is it possible for you to ask this question? It's one of the most important events of the Olympics. Said and done.

malmo wrote:

rojo wrote:

That implies that the stadium seating for the men' smarathon is sold out. How in the world can that be true? Their going to fill an entire stadium with marathon fans sitting there for 2 plus hours waiting for the race to finish? There is nothing else in the stadium that day.

How is it possible for you to ask this question? It's one of the most important events of the Olympics. Said and done.

impossible, the 5 k and up should be cancelled, coe has laid down the law.

nobody is interested in 5k and up.

cancel the marathon.

Everyone in the stadium will be watching the HD video of the marathon on ginormous gazillion pixel screens.

At the same time spectators will be posting live updates on Letsruns thread titled "Official Letsrun Olympic Marathon Haiku Thread" - Serious Posters Only

Um, maybe because AlSal purchased all tix to ensure that a Rupp-certified crowd witnesses his win.

NOP strikes again.