ONE million tickets for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow are to be sold through a ticket agency – but booking fees will be waived.
Ticketmaster has been unveiled as the "Official Ticketing Services Provider" for the sporting event, and will be in charge of providing access for more than one million spectators to 17 sports next year.
The company sold more than 10.9 million tickets in the run up to the London Olympic Games last year, and has also been behind ticketing operations at Rugby World Cups and ICC World Twenty20 cricket tournaments.
It has been confirmed the company will not charge a booking fee, and tickets will be sold at face value with the only extra costs coming from postage and packaging.
This is a similar arrangement to the scheme put in place for the Olympics. It allows Ticketmaster to build up a database of hundreds of thousands of potential customers whose details it can keep on file and who can be sent updates on forthcoming events.
More than 4500 athletes from around the Commonwealth will compete at Glasgow 2014, including Scotland's largest-ever national team.
Sports include athletics, gymnastics and cycling, although Scots star Sir Chris Hoy, having recently announced his retirement, will not compete.
Tickets will go on sale in August and prices are expected to be announced next month, along with details of how the public will be able to apply for them.
Glasgow 2014 deputy chief executive Ty Speer said he was delighted to be working with Ticketmaster, given its track record in working at some of the world's most high-profile sporting events.
He said: "The summer of 2014 will see the eyes of the world focus on Scotland, as one of the world's greatest sporting events comes to Glasgow – our largest, proudest city. It is incredibly important we have a services provider which can successfully meet our commitment to deliver an outstanding Games with packed stadia and through a fair and simple ticketing strategy.
"Ticketmaster has a wealth of experience in delivering ticketing for major sporting events and we are looking forward to working with them in the months to come."
Chris Edmonds, chairman of Ticketmaster UK, said: "We are proud to have been selected as the Official Ticketing Services Provider for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and are looking forward to being involved with the largest-ever multi-sport event in Scotland. Our Ticketmaster team will bring unrivalled knowledge and experience of supporting major high-profile international events, and our goal will be to help deliver a comprehensive and successful ticketing strategy for Glasgow 2014."
Scottish Government Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport Shona Robison added: "Ticketmaster has the expertise and experience of successfully delivering ticketing for inter-national multi-sport events and I am sure will deliver again in 2014."
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