Confused About 2028 LA Olympics Tickets? Here Are 5 Things To Know

With tickets for the 2028 Summer Olympics beginning to roll out, many Southern California residents are learning whether they’ve been selected for the first opportunity to buy seats — and trying to make sense of a process that has left plenty of fans confused.

The early rounds of locals-only sales were handled through a lottery system that assigned selected registrants a limited window to buy tickets. Those windows are almost all closed, and the first global ticket drop — when fans around the world will begin getting their purchase windows — is approaching.

Adding to the uncertainty is the fact that prices, ticket limits, and even seat assignments are handled differently than at most major sporting events. Some buyers in the local presale said they backed out after seeing higher-than-expected totals at checkout (what about those $28 tickets?) while others were surprised to learn that getting a purchase window doesn’t guarantee the specific tickets they want will still be available.

Here are five key things to know about how the ticket process works and what to expect if you’re hoping to attend the games:

Locals-Only Ticket Sales Are Ending

Southern California residents earlier this year were eligible to enter a lottery granting them access to an early opportunity to win tickets.

Those windows took place between April 2-6.

The process was a confusing one for many sports fans, as those selected in the lottery were notified about 48 hours before their assigned time slot. Those who were not selected got an email saying so.

Each time slot lasts two days, which means the very last locals-only windows will be closing on April 8.

Global Window Opening

A broader public sale is set for April 9-19, when remaining tickets will be made available to fans worldwide.

That sale will operate similarly to the locals one, a lottery will determine whether those who registered are assigned a window to purchase tickets. Notifications began going out on Tuesday, organizers said.

Those who didn't get selected for the locals-only sale will be automatically entered into all future ticket draws until they hit their ticket maximum. No additional action is required.

Registration for this next ticket window has already closed. Those who haven't registered buy tickets can sign up for the LA28 newsletter to be notified when additional ticket registration windows open.

Ticket Prices Vary Widely

Many fans were delighted at the news that tickets for the games start at $28.

However, that's only part of the story.

Those who had the earliest time slots reported being able to snag some of those $28 tickets. But there was a very limited amount of them — for example, by Monday morning there were only a few events with $28 tickets available.

According to LA28, roughly half of all tickets are expected to cost more than $200, and about 5% will cost more than $1,000.

Additionally, many were surprised by the final totals at checkout. Service fees were as high as 24%, LAist reported.

Ticket Limit

Each selected buyer will be allowed to purchase up to 12 tickets, but there are exceptions.

Buyers have a separate 12-ticket limit for soccer matches. Those tickets do not count toward the overall 12-ticket limit.

Purchases for the opening and closing ceremonies are capped at four tickets per person. Those tickets do count toward the overall limit.

Buyers purchase tickets in specific sections: They won't know their specific seat locations until closer to the day of the event.

Organizers said "we cannot guarantee consecutive seating when purchasing multiple tickets to a session in the same ticket category, but we will do our best to assign seats made in the same transaction together."

Resale Marketplace

A verified "Secondary Ticket Marketplace" in partnership with AXS and Eventim is expected to launch until 2027.

Organizers haven't revealed full details about what that platform will look like, but they suggested that it will be a place where buyers securely sell any unwanted tickets — and a place where those who need tickets can reliably find them.

City News Service contributed to this report.