BEIJING - Less room for the press and tighter policing of corporate seats is planned for the 2010 Olympics to avoid some of the buzz kill happening at the Beijing Games.
An innovative ticket resale program is also planned to make sure there is a fan in every seat.
"It's not a revenue issue because we've already sold the ticket but the biggest thing to me is an atmosphere issue for the athletes and the other people in the venue," said Dave Cobb, executive vice-president of marketing for Vancouver's organizing committee.
"We have a responsibility to put some work into facilitating that process."
Empty seats are common at Olympic Games, even as organizers claim sold-out events.
Around 30 per cent of the tickets are reserved for what's known as the "Olympic family" -- sponsors, sports federations and the media.
"We've got a few sort of steps in our planning but the first is to minimize the size of the sections for Olympic family to really as small as it needs to be for those different groups to be able to do their jobs," said Cobb, who added the plan is being received well by the International Olympic Committee.
"Those sections need to be big enough for them to do their jobs but no bigger."
Last minute obligations, an unexpected change in who is competing or even the weather can also result in many tickets going unused.
Beijing has been no exception.
Cobb said the empty seats he saw this week at gymnastics and swimming were in the area reserved for media.
In 2010, that space will be reduced at events with less media interest, Cobb said, but flexible seating will be built to ensure enough room at key competitions.
Even the International Olympic Committee has expressed its displeasure with Beijing organizers over seats going unused.
Ticket resale markets have been tried in the past, like at the Salt Lake Games, but a more aggressive strategy will be in play in 2010.
"Everybody's objectives are to have full venues, it's more fun for everybody and the atmosphere is better for everyone," said Caley Denton, the vice-president of ticketing for the Games.
"So I think it's just a matter of being proactive leading up to the Games and just communicating with (people) well and having a place where they know who to contact and we have the ability to make changes quickly."
Using the technology embedded in the tickets, organizers will also be keeping track of which corporate partners and sports federations are squandering seats, Denton said.
"Hopefully we can set some trends, make sure early we can intercept people who aren't showing up, find out if there's a reason and hopefully find a solution," he said.
Part of the solution will be the first-of-its kind online resale market for Olympic tickets, similar to those used by professional hockey team.
Since all of the Olympic tickets will be bar coded, it will be easy for people just to sell and buy them online, Denton said.
The bar codes will help cut down on stolen or otherwise illegitimately acquired tickets as they can just be invalidated by organizers.
The corporate world is already getting targeted by scams promising packages complete with access to the most coveted event in 2010 -- the gold-medal hockey game.
This week, more 1,200 Canadian businesses will be getting a letter directly from Vancouver organizers or the Canadian Chamber of Commerce warning them away from unscrupulous brokers.
Sales to the public start October 3.
