Torino 2006 Olympic Tickets On Sale

Thursday, November 4th, the ticket sales for the Torino 2006 Winter Games will begin world-wide. Tickets and packages of tickets can be ordered for the 177 sports events and for the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the XX Olympic Winter Games that will be held from the 10th to the 26th of February 2006.

Specifically in Italy: tickets will be on sale through the website www.torino2006.org/tickets, the 3000 Sanpaolo bank branches and banks and of the Group (Main Sponsor of Torino 2006), the 400 sales points of the TicketOne network (Official Supplier of the Ticketing services) and the Torino 2006 Call Centre (848.88.2006, open from 10:00 to 19:00 from Monday to Friday and from 10:00 to 16:00 on Saturdays).

In the countries of the European Economic Area outside of Italy: tickets can be purchased through TOROC on the Internet site www.torino2006.org/tickets and from the Call Centre of Torino 2006: +39.039.838250 or through the sales agents of the National Olympic Committees. Both the TOROC ticketing website and the websites of each National Olympic Committee will provide specific contacts for each country.

In all other countries: tickets can be purchased exclusively through the National Olympic Committees.(U.S. Olympic Committee: For all ticket information regarding the 2006 Torino Olympic Games, contact CoSport at 877-457-4647 or by email at cosport@cosport.com)

"With the opening of the Ticketing Offices, the XX Olympic Winter Games come to life - said TOROC president Valentino Castellani - Italy and Torino in particular are preparing to welcome sports lovers from all over the world. Over half of the tickets will cost between 20 and 50 euro: the offer is varied and includes also "Carnets" - packages of tickets that will allow fans to follow their favourite sport or national team in all the events, or to live a more varied Olympic experience".

In Italy and the European Economic Area: directly through TOROC people can choose to buy a ticket for a single competition session or a selection of the best events. The proposals include: Sport Packages, to follow all the competitions of a specific sport through all the gold medals; Mountain Packages and City Packages, to see two different sports events in the same day in Torino or in the mountain valleys and; Olympic Experience Packages, to attend four events on three consecutive days and as well as an evening at Medal Plaza where the prize-giving ceremonies and entertainment will be held for entry by invitation only.

The first phase of ticket sales through TOROC will conclude on December 15th. Only in this phase (and only for the events where request is greater than the availability), to guarantee maximum fairness and transparency, a system of random selection will be applied to guarantee everyone the same chance to have the tickets. By the end of the month of January 2005, all buyers will receive official notification from Torino 2006 confirming the tickets successfully obtained.

In the EEA countries outside of Italy, each National Olympic Committee or their appointed agent may decide to offer tickets and packages directly for sale or may opt to hold an initial request phase.

In TOROC's subsequent sale phase for the EEA, starting on February 10th 2005 (one year exactly from the beginning of the Games), the public will be able to buy their tickets in real time for the events they want to attend. At the moment of purchase they will receive a voucher, while the actual tickets will be delivered via courier a few weeks before the start of the Games. This system was adopted to lessen the risk of counterfeit problems.

With over 75 million euro, ticket sales will represent the third source of income for TOROC, following TV rights and sponsorships. In terms of revenues, it is already possible to make a first extremely positive statement: "About 35% of the available tickets have already been booked by the so-called "grandi clienti" - major clients: the National Olympic Committees, the Sponsors, the International Sports Federations and the Broadcasters - declared the TOROC Head of Ticketing, Giorgio Lauretta - but for every event, a quota of at least 20 percent of the seats has been reserved for the general public. This first phase of the sales is, therefore, an opportunity that sports fans should not miss. From now to this coming December 15th, they'll have a full choice of all the events on the calendar at varied price ranges. In February, when the second stage of sales starts, the tickets for some of the most popular competitions, like the hockey finals, figure skating and speed skating or for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, may be already sold out".

The single sports events will have prices that vary: from 20 euro to 70 euro to watch a curling match, from 25 to 110 euro for the different alpine skiing events, from 20 to 70 euro for cross-country skiing, from 35 to 90 euro for snowboard, from 20 to 90 for freestyle, from 20 to 60 euro for biathlon, from 60 to 90 euro for the nordic combined, between 35 and 170 euro for ski jumping, from 25 to 50 euro for the bob and luge races, from 35 to 50 euro for skeleton, from 30 to 95 euro for speed skating, from 40 to 90 euro for short track, between 70 and 300 euro for figure skating and between 20 and 350 euro for the hockey games.

There are two or three price categories for each session according to the seat location within the competition venue. Some examples: for the men's super-G there will be two price categories, 30 and 110 euro; for the short track finals the tickets will have three categories 40, 70 and 90 euro.

"The tickets most requested by the "major clients" - added Mr. Lauretta - are for hockey, speed skating and figure skating, however the request is also high for freestyle and curling. The United States, Canada and France are coming out to support the Games in great numbers as we had imagined. We also have been pleasantly surprised by large orders from Japan, Russia and Holland".

To be present at the Opening Ceremony of the Games, a show followed by over three billion people in a worldwide telecast, people will spend between 250 and 850 euro; while the Closing Ceremony, that will mark the end of the Games and be a salute to all the athletes, will have prices that range from 200 to 600 euro.