In the last week of the Paris Olympics, there were still plenty of tickets up for sale. You could get one for as low as 24 euros ($27.65) for a sporting event. And as high as 1,600 euros ($1,843) for Category A closing ceremony seats. But things are already looking very different for the Los Angeles Olympics 2028, which is still 2 years away. Fans who were scrambling to secure early spots have faced heavy disappointment for multiple reasons.

Lori Rovner from Manhattan Beach is a huge sports fan who tried her best to secure the LA Olympics tickets as soon as they went live. However, she first had to battle several “access denied” screens on the website.

To make things she lost her shopping cart due to a 30-minute timeout window and even encountered server issues. But when she finally managed to secure 16 tickets, something worse made her lose her mind.

“It’s insane,” she reacted, looking at the inflated ticket price due to a whopping 24% service fee.

“I don’t understand what the service is,” she grumbled.

Well, each ticket for the LA Olympics carries an additional service fee of about 24% of the ticket price, raising the cost of a $2,100 ticket to about $2,604.

And she wasn’t the only one, as fans across Reddit and the internet shared similar experiences. One Reddit user’s cart for 10 tickets included service fees of $1,038 alone.

“Ticket prices are ridiculous. Rather watch on tv,” echoed one fan on Instagram.

And to make matters worse, technical problems also plagued the launch of the locals-only sales phase. Now, after the first window, supporters are left feeling shut out, with the dream of attending the Olympics feeling more expensive than ever.

Angelenos slam ticket prices for the LA 2028 Olympics

“The ticket prices are way too high. What a lost opportunity for local families and individuals to enjoy the Games.”

The first drop of the LA Olympics presale tickets opened just for the locals to attend. But the Angelenos were shocked by the many issues. That is especially after LA 2028 organizers boasted that at least 1 million tickets were being sold at $28 each (14 million across the entire event). 

A fan then wrote on Instagram, “The tickets are way more expensive than expected/should be, even before the service fee.”

And the frustration only continued as more reactions poured in online, reflecting a growing sense of anger.

“I think it’s wild that they also have a “commemorative” ticket that they wanna charge 18 extra dollars for, and it has to be all the tickets, not even one. like the least you could do is give me a ticket stub 🫠 pretty sad that this is all so unaffordable,” one fan vented on Instagram.

The ticket prices for previous Olympics, while expensive, had been within reasonable limits. The 2024 Paris Olympic Games, for example, had tickets ranging from $135 to $ 1,059, with the latter being the highest-priced.

That was lower than at the 2012 London Olympics, where the ticket price for the men’s 100m final, the highest-priced event, was nearly $ 1,300 after inflation. American fans, however, did have to spend more than that on travel, accommodation, and other things, essentially making a trip to the 2024 Olympics cost at least $ 5,000.

That price did drop for the 2026 Winter Olympics to around $3,000 for the entire trip, with tickets starting at $36 and going up to $1,600 for the men’s hockey final.

But what further frustrated Angelenos was the fact that they simply couldn’t get into the website. Error messages, server issues, and other problems prevented them from accessing the website during their time slot, much like Rovner.

One Instagram user wrote, “What’s ridiculous is the website wouldn’t let us in to our time slot for 45 minutes,” while another echoed their frustration, “They are ridiculously expensive and not even available. It’s a JOKE!!! @la28”.

And as if that isn’t enough, this is only the first block of ticket sales for the LA 2028 Olympics, with many now fearing that upcoming phases and dynamic pricing could push costs even higher. 

Not only that, an official resale market is expected to go live closer to the Games, and early reports suggest there may be no strict cap on resale prices, further concerning fans. With millions still expected to enter the general sale phases, how organizers respond could determine whether tensions continue to rise or begin to settle.