Registration for the ticket draw for all events of the 2028 Olympics began Wednesday, the first chance for fans to secure a time slot to purchase tickets, but many people were met with long waits as would-be ticket buyers overwhelmed the system.
The registration window opened at 7 a.m. and will continue through March 18. Registration is the first step to secure a time slot to purchase tickets, which can be done at tickets.la28.org. Once registered, participants will be entered into a ticket draw, randomly assigning time slots to purchase tickets throughout multiple future ticket drops.
Once the process began, however, many people attempting to purchase tickets were met with long waits, with some being bounced from one queue to another, leading to waits of an hour or more.
“You’re in a waiting room, you get through it, and then you get sent to another waiting room that looks exactly the same with no indication at all that was supposed to happen. Are you insane?” one would-be buyer wrote on social media.
Another asked, “Has anyone else been stuck at the profile page for over an hour like me?”
Officials with Olympic organizers LA28 urged fans to be patient and assured them the waits would pay off.
“Thanks for your patience, we’ve looked into the matter,” LA28 wrote on X. “It is not a mistake if you’re being redirected to another queue. Your place in line will be maintained, and you will be able to register shortly.”
LA28 reminded people that the registration window will be open through March 18.
Time slots to purchase tickets will run during “Drop 1,” which will run from April 9-19. Fans will be notified by email from March 31 to April 7 if they’ve been assigned a time slot, according to LA28.
Tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies will also be made available in April.
Single tickets will start at $28 with a variety of options available for individuals and groups interested in attending the 2028 Games.
A special presale for Los Angeles and Oklahoma residents will run from April 2 to April 6 before time slots to purchase are officially available on April 9. Softball and canoe slalom will be held at existing facilities in Oklahoma City to avoid having to build new facilities in Southern California.
Residents of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties will have early access. In Oklahoma, the counties of Oklahoma, Canadian and Cleveland will have early access.
The ticket process will be operated by LA28’s official ticketing service provider AXS and EVENTIM.
Curated ticket-inclusive hospitality experiences and packages will be offered by On Location. Fans interested in those offerings must also register for the ticket draw through the LA28 ticketing website.
Tickets for the Paralympic Games will go on sale in 2027.