LANE ONE: Eugene World Athletics Championships nearing evening sell-outs, with an estimated 86% of tickets sold with 10 days to go

The new Hayward Field, with the giant, north-end scoreboard (Photo: University of Oregon)

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Remember the sparse crowds at Eugene’s new Hayward Field for the Prefontaine Classic, NCAA Championships and the USA Track & Field National Championships? They won’t be repeated for the World Athletics Championships beginning on 15 July.

An examination of the online ticket availabilities for the Worlds by TheSportsExaminer.com shows that about 86% of all seats have been sold so far, with most of those in the morning sessions. The evening sessions show sales of about 90% of all available tickets, so Hayward will be rocking in a couple of weeks.

Back in April, TSX exclusively calculated that Hayward will seat about 17,000 in total for the Worlds, with perhaps 14,500 tickets available for sale and the rest used for news media and officials. A shift of some sections appears to have added some seats for sale since then, for about 15,000 tickets available per session.

Over 15 sessions – five morning and 10 evening – that’s 225,000 tickets and our July 4 survey shows that about 31,000 tickets remain, with 21,500 or so in the five morning sessions. That’s a sales rate of 86% overall and 90% for the evening sessions. Excellent and sales are continuing.

The new Hayward Field has 72 seating sections for the Worlds, with 38 on the lower level and 34 on the upper level and temporary seating around the second turn. Let’s check on the day-by-day, session-by-session sales so far:

15 July (Fri. a.m.):
Tickets are available in 29 of 72 sections, with an estimated 4,000 seats still available, with prices from $10 and promotional pricing of many backstretch seats for the 4th of July only at $17.76; these were the $35 lowest-price seats in April. Seats right on the finish line in sections 121-221 are available for $95.

15 July (Fri. p.m.):
There are seats available in 50 sections for the first evening session, with the Mixed 4×400 m the only final. Available tickets are $295 and $175 on the home straight, $130-150-175 on the turn, $150 on the backstraight and $70-95 on the far turn. A little more than 3,000 tickets are shown as available.

16 July (Sat. a.m.):
The men’s hammer and women’s 10,000 m finals are in this session with seats available in 33 sections, priced from $17.76 (on Monday) but otherwise as low as $45 and up to $135. About 1,500 tickets are left.

16 July (Sat. p.m.):
The men’s 100 m, women’s shot and men’s long jump finals are on this program, with seats in 20 sections, but less than 500 tickets remaining in the house. There are a few seats close to the finish line, priced at $315, $375, $520 and $910, with seats around the turn at $115-195 and the backstraight and far turn at $85 to $165. Should be loud!

17 July (Sun. a.m.):
The women’s hammer and men’s 10,000 m final on are Sunday morning, with tickets available in 34 sections. Seats on the home straight are available for $125-135, from $65-95-125 on the turn and $45-95 on the backstraight and the far turn. About 1,500 tickets are left.

17 July (Sun. p.m.):
Terrific program with finals in the women’s 100 m, women’s vault, men’s shot and men’s 110 m hurdles. Tickets are shown to be available in just 18 sections, at $195-315-375-725 and $115-165 and $85 on the far turn. Barely more than 400 tickets are still available.

18 July (Mon. a.m.):
The women’s heptathlon continues, with the long jump and javelin only and only 13 sections sold out. Tickets range from $25-95, with more than 4,500 seats still available.

18 July (Mon. p.m.):
Five finals, with the women’s hep, women’s 1,500, women’s triple jump, men’s high jump and Steeple, with tickets available in 33 sections. Pricing for the best seats is at $150-175-295, or $130-150-175 around the turn and $70-95 on the far turn. About 1,500 seats are left.

19 July (Tue. p.m.):
Four finals, with the women’s high jump and the men’s 400 m hurdles, discus and 1,500 m. This is heading toward a sell-out, with tickets in only 16 sections available. Home straight tickets are $150-175-250-295-680, $150 and $175 on the turn and back straight and $70-95 on the far turn. Barely more than 500 seats remain.

20 July (Wed. p.m.):
Just two finals, with the women’s discus and women’s Steeple, and more tickets available, in 44 sections. Home straight seats are $150-175-250-295-425 and $130-150-175 on the turn and backstraight and then $70-95 on the far turn. More than 2,000 seats appear to be available.

21 July (Thu. p.m.):
The much-anticipated 200 m finals for both men and women are on this day, with seats in 40 sections shown available. Home straight seats are $195-315-375-575, going down to $145-165-195 on the turn and backstraight and $85-115 on the far turn. A little over 1,600 seats are shown available.

22 July (Fri. p.m.):
The men’s and women’s 400 m, the women’s 400 m hurdles and women’s javelin are the finals, with heats in the 4×100 m relays. This session has been essentially sold out for months and seats are only shown in eight sections, with home straight seats for $255-315-375-885-1,450 and just a few other seats available. Monday’s inventory shown just 74 seats remaining.

23 July (Sat. a.m.):
This is day one of the decathlon, with no other events, so no surprise that seats are available of 57 of the 71 sections. Pricing $55-75-95 except for the far turn and as low as $25 on the far turn. Looks to be about 5,000 tickets available.

23 July (Sat. p.m.):
The 4×100 m relay finals and heats of the 4×400 m, plus the men’s 800 m, triple jump and javelin, plus the women’s 5,000 m. It’s a near sell-out, with tickets in just four sections shown and a total of 41 tickets shown. Almost all are on the home straight and cost $930 or $1,550 each.

24 July (Sun. a.m.):
Events 6-9 of the decathlon only, so lots of tickets available, in 60 sections, priced from $25 and up, with a top of $95 on the home straight. Just under 5,000 seats are available.

24 July (Sun. p.m.):
Just 46 seats shown for the final session, with the men’s vault, men’s 5,000 m, the decathlon 1,500m, women’s long jump, 800 m and 100 m hurdles finals and the 4×400 m relays. The available seats are right on the home straight, priced at $930 and $1,550.

So, fears of a feeble crowd can be dismissed, although there are a lot of tickets for the heptathlon and decathlon morning sessions available. In fact, 69% of all remaining available tickets are for the morning sessions; the 10 evening sessions are estimated to have just about 9,000 tickets left.

The high-end hospitality seating offered by Daimani has not sold out and some of these tickets, on the home straight or right on the finish line, have been returned to public sale, but with the VIP accoutrements included in the (elevated) price. The current daily offers have been price-reduced:

Cadence Club , in sections 123-124-125:
● Was $450-550-975-450-875-450-650-1,250-1,250-1,250 in April
● Now $395-495-695-395-650-400-550-850-895-895

Cadence Club Finish line, in sections 121-122:
● Was $950-1,050-1,450-950-1,770-950-1,150-2,250-2,250-2,250 in April
● Now $650-875-1,050-750-1,250-750-950-1,395-1,495-1,495

There is also now an option to upgrade from standard tickets and partake of the hospitality area, food and drinks for $195 per person for the evening sessions.

The new Hayward Field is a beautiful arena for the sport and after the disappointing crowds in 2022 – with the locals saving their money for the World Championships – the award of the Worlds to the U.S. promises to be at least an aesthetic and athletic success. Whether it is financially successful or leaves any legacy for track & field in the U.S. is a debate for another day.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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