“Expensive”: Suni Lee’s Appearance Still Isn’t Promising for Gymnastics World to Buy Olympic Trials Tickets

The 2024 Paris Olympics is close and Suni Lee is excited. “I am so excited to announce that Minneapolis has been selected to host the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for the sport of gymnastics,” she announced. From the return of icons like Simone Biles to the hometown heroics of Minnesota’s own Suni Lee, alongside Gabby Douglas, Jordan Chiles, and many others, the path to the Paris Olympics 2024 appears bright and formidable. Yet it seems some fans might not show up for the trials. Why?

The ticket prices. They are high! In a Reddit post by user ‘minneapple79,’ a heartfelt plea from the gymnastics fan captured attention. The user mentioned the story of their gymnastics-crazy niece, who lives in Minneapolis and is looking forward to the Olympic year.

They shared, “I figured tickets to the trials would be a perfect birthday gift for her (her birthday is in May). I checked and tickets are $450 each, which is insane! (I said for that price I could probably send her to a Taylor Swift concert, another craze of hers.) Does anyone know why they’re so expensive and if there’s a possibility the price will go down on the secondary market?” 

Presently, as reported by Ticket Smarter, the US Gymnastics Olympic Trials All-Session Offer prices for the trials at Target Center commence at a substantial $450 for suite passes, soaring to nearly $1500 for seats closer to the field of play. With tickets nearing sell-out status, demand has propelled prices even higher. By contrast, Taylor Swift, acclaimed as the most coveted performer in 2023, commanded an average ticket price of $1,088.56. As we contemplate these figures, let’s explore how other fans justified the ticket prices of the US Olympic Trials.

What do fans think about ticket prices for the event?

Additional voices joined the conversation, offering diverse perspectives on the ticket prices. One user shared, “Olivia Rodrigo tickets were more than that after resale. So I’d assume TS was even more. Ticket prices are bikers these days. Yay monopolies. The target center adds on almost another ticket as an additional fee. But this is a chance to see the 3 AA gold medalists in their home territory go all out in their all around. Once in a lifetime event IMO. And you are getting all the days, not just one day like Olympic tickers are sold.”

But it’s not just the trials that are expensive. As Paris is gearing up for an extraordinary event, the cost of hotels and rental apartments in the city has nearly doubled. The city expects about 15 million visitors, but they have only 85,000 guest rooms. So the hospitality industry will have a big advantage. Even the airfares have risen.

But a fan had a solution on their mind for the trials in Minneapolis. “Maybe consider getting tickets for a single day. I think those are only available on the secondary market, and you need to check which day the women are competing ( I think Friday and Sunday but don’t remember offhand),” they shared. Similarly, another person suggested, “You should look into NCAA season tickets. They are way more reasonable and some are even free.” 

Another Reddit user disagreed with the original post. “Given the talent that will be on display, that’s not expensive. It would be a generous and memorable gift. Going to something like that is a lifetime memory.”

Surely, it will be a memory people will cherish for a lifetime. And to support this in Paris, many locals are planning to leave the city so that they can rent out their places, as reported by ‘The New York Times’. A French advocacy group called UFC-Que Choisir, is unhappy with the rising prices because it makes the Olympics inaccessible to many.

“Honestly, if it’s $450 for all four days I would try to go! My sister and I went to watch the 2008 Olympic trials, and we went every day. It was such an incredible atmosphere and so exciting to be able to watch every gymnast competing their full difficulty routines. I still get goosebumps remembering Chellsie Memmel’s final floor routine. She was the last event of the whole trials, the entire arena was watching her and clapping along and she just killed it. It’s even impressive on YouTube now,” shared another person.

With just two months for the Team USA roster to be decided at the Minneapolis Convention Center, do you believe the current prices are fair? Share your thoughts in the comments below!