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Twice as many corporate guests at 2012 as athletes
Matthew Beard, Evening Standard24.04.08
Corporate guests will outnumber athletes by more than two to one at the London Olympics, official figures reveal.
Games chiefs reckon the number of sponsors, their guests and competition winners at the 2012 event will be 31,400.
Referred to as "marketing partners", they will outnumber the 14,500 Olympic athletes during the two-week event.
The figures have been revealed in an Olympic Delivery Authority document which forecast 2012 transport requirements. Massed ranks of corporate visitors will include multinational corporations such as Coca Cola, McDonald's and Samsung - so-called TOP sponsors with global Olympic sponsorship deals - who will each be given thousands of tickets to Games events.
It is thought the 12 top sponsors will each be entitled to up to 100 tickets per sports event, although 2012 ticketing arrangements have not been finalised.
Reader views (2)
If the corporate guests were sent onto the tracks to compete I might even consider going to the games.
And a sack race for the smug politicians who've sold us down the line with this mega-con would be highly appropriate and entertaining.
- Jack Walters, Hackney, UK
Why worry? The whole thing will be a fiasco from start to finish with Londoners footing the huge bill for the next 25 years or so. Still, at least Ken will get his funding for the East End from us, of course no Eastenders will be able to live there any more as they won't be able to afford it and the mortgage companies won't touch them with a barge pole but I'm sure Ken's cronies will love living there.
- Roger Delondoners, Elephant and Castle
