Updated: 2:41 p.m. May 28, 2026
Getting the chance to attend the Summer Olympic Games isn’t something that happens every day.
So when the chance to register for LA28 presale tickets opened earlier this year, I didn’t think twice.
This special presale gave LA residents early access to the once-every-four-years world sporting event.
So when the email came in on March 31, giving me my 48-hour slot, I thought it was an April Fools’ Day joke.
I have never been lucky in a game of chance, whether it’s lottery tickets or playing bingo, so I never thought in a million years that I’d get picked for a slot.
But it was real. My exclusive early purchase window ran from April 2 at 4 p.m. Pacific to April 4 at 11:59 p.m., open to local fans in the Greater Los Angeles area and Oklahoma City — yes, OKC is also hosting canoe slalom and softball events.
It was great to get a chance to grab tickets before they went on sale to the general public on April 9.
Organizers extended the window to purchase tickets for all time slots beginning on April 2 “in observance of religious holidays and to ensure the broadest possible participation from all members of our community.”
Let the real games begin
On April 2, I set my phone alarm to 4 p.m. Pacific to make sure I was able to access the site without any tech issues.
Of course, things are not always that easy.
When I tried logging onto the website, I received an error message. After several attempts using other browsers and rebooting my computer, I switched to my phone in hopes that it would at least let me in so I could see what the site looked like.
Luckily, that worked and I was able to access ticketing after a small wait in the queue.
Tips to get the tickets you want
Have a game plan: Once I landed on the dashboard, this is where I realized I should have had a game plan.
Be decisive: Tickets to events were moving so dynamically that if you waited or idled too long on a certain event, it might not be there by the time you added it in your cart.
As part of this presale, you can purchase up to 12 tickets total: This breaks down to 12 individual sessions or multiple tickets to the same session. However, this maximum number of tickets you can purchase may vary for certain sports and is subject to change. For example, you could purchase up to 12 soccer sessions that do not count toward the 12-ticket maximum.
For context, tickets are organized by sessions. A session is a block of time at a venue, which can include one or multiple events or matches.
No seat numbers, yet: It’s important to note that tickets are being sold by seat category and not by seat numbers since exact seat assignments won’t be revealed until closer to the Games.
30-minutes in the cart: Perhaps the most important thing to note is that once you put tickets into your cart, you have 30 minutes from the moment they are added to finish the purchase and secure your spot. If you remove tickets or the cart expires, adding a ticket will restart the 30-minute clock.
This is where being organized and coming with a plan would have come in handy for me.
Filter for the cheaper tickets: I had no plan coming in other than not paying more than $50 a ticket. It didn’t matter where I sat, just being able to watch a game would be enough for me.
Knowing that, I used filters to see what events were still available at $28 (which includes a service fee). Since April 2 was the first day for those who had a time slot in this locals presale draw, there was a good chance of landing one of these tickets. However, this meant searching for sporting events that were a little less in demand..
I first searched for opening and closing ceremony tickets. Opening ceremony tickets were ranging from as high as $5,519.34 a ticket to the lowest at $328.68 — both already unavailable. Closing ceremony tickets were going for $4,961.20 to as low as $28 — again unavailable during my time slot.
I quickly pivoted and started searching for sessions that were medal-awarding events for $28.
Forget about getting a $28 ticket for high-demand sports like swimming, track and field, basketball and soccer. I had better luck here with the sporting events that were a bit less in demand.
Another thing to know is that you can filter by venue location: It was great to see the diverse set of venues being leveraged for these events across Los Angeles, Southern California and Oklahoma City as well. Applying this approach helped me narrow down what was available and what I was willing to pay for.
I tried to log on again for a second time during the remainder of my time slot, but I encountered the same technical difficulties on desktop.
Then, I gave up.
My LA28 haul
In the end, I was able to come away with the following:
- Archery Women’s Preliminary at Carson Stadium
- Table Tennis Mixed Preliminary at the LA Convention Center
- Athletics (Track and Field) Mixed Final (medal event) at the LA Memorial Coliseum
- Open Water Swimming Women’s Final (medal event) at Belmont Shore in Long Beach
Getting to see some preliminary sessions along with two final medal events was a win for me.
Total: $198.82 (just under $200) — 1 archery ($28); 2 track and field ($35 each; $86.82 total, medal final); 2 table tennis ($28 each; $56 total); 1 open water (medal final, $28).
I’ve always been a planner but purchasing tickets to sporting events two years in the future was a first for me.
I don’t know what the world will look like two years from now, but at least I know I have a ticket to see the return of the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
