RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Amy Hunt won the women's 100m final on Monday evening but the stadium was nowhere near full [Reuters]
Nearly 10,000 seats were empty at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium for the European Athletics Championships on Monday evening.
A crowd of 13,623 watched as Britain's 24-year-old sprinter Amy Hunt stormed to her first senior international title , in a stadium that has a capacity of 23,000.
Athletics supporters blamed ticket prices, with some describing them as "extortionate", while BBC commentator Steve Cram commented that spectator numbers were a "little disappointing".
But Birmingham 2026 organisers said they were "delighted" with ticket sales, which have "far surpassed" their targets with "Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening sessions approaching sell-out, with several other sessions close to capacity".
On Monday, Category A tickets for the home straight cost £150 with no concessions for juniors.
For the men's 100m final on Tuesday, those same seats cost £110, again with no concessions - while a similar ticket for the same final in Rome two years ago was 88 euros (£75).
It is Britain's first time hosting the championships in their 92-year history.
'Pork rolls for £18.50'
The Alexander Stadium was 55% full on Monday morning, 59% full by the evening and 56% full on Tuesday morning, according to figures from the organisers.
Jenny Meadows, Keely Hodgkinson's co-coach, posted on social media to say: "Believe it's full for some final evenings but a shame we couldn't fill the stadium for the duration."
British Olympian Sharron Davies also took to social media: "We must bid for more events but we must make it affordable, so we get to enjoy it first hand, fill stadiums, support our athletes, promote our country & inspire generations to come to love sport."
Davies also criticised how official food vendors in the stadium were selling pork rolls for £18.50 and hot dogs for £15.
During coverage of the Women's 100m final on Monday night, BBC commentator Cram added: "Little disappointing in terms of spectators I have to say that, particularly down the back straight there.
"There's not many people at all in those stands. I'm sure Birmingham is going to get to grips with these champs pretty quickly."
Chris Brown was in the stadium on Monday evening, where he photographed rows of empty seats.
Speaking to the BBC, the 40-year-old said: "I think they have the pricing for the weekdays a little off. The cheapest tickets are £26, which is reasonable and most people have bought those and the back rows are full.
"Maybe they should invite everyone down to the lower seats to at least make it look good on TV.
"The view from the £40 to £26 tickets is pretty much the same, so that price category has become rather redundant. £110 for the best seats I think is reasonable for a weekend evening session, but not mid-week.
"But also, the Commonwealth Games may have had an impact, as not many will attend both and both are in the UK within the same fortnight.
"There are many fans in attendance in Birmingham who are international, which is great to see, but it's disappointing that many Brits haven't bothered."
Chris Brown said he found it disappointing that British fans were not turning out in greater numbers for the championships [Chris Brown]
Adam Hilton is set to travel from Manchester to Birmingham for this Saturday's evening session.
The 34-year-old paid £120 for two tickets for him and his girlfriend - but said he "doesn't feel [it was] value for money" and he would consider no longer going if there was an option to get a refund.
"Seeing the opening day [Monday] felt very disappointing to see the empty seats, especially in the evening session," he said. "In summer, with the good weather, you'd like to see it full-ish.
"It's a shame, as it seems to be a trend across most sports where fans are seemingly being priced out of events that should be way more accessible.
"For the first European Championships in the UK ever, you'd except to get bums on seats - and a lot of kids who could then learn to love the sport and take it up going forward, especially when there's a major event outside of London."
Adam Hilton and his girlfriend are set to travel from Manchester to Birmingham this Saturday [Adam Hilton]
Hilton joined others who have criticised the lack of transport infrastructure around the stadium, with the nearest train station a mile's walk away and shuttle buses ferrying fans from the city centre, alongside a park and ride service.
Hilton, who is set to drive, said he could only find a prepaid parking space two miles (3km) away for Saturday.
This is Britain's first time hosting the European Athletics Championships [Chris Brown]
One athletics fan urged organisers on social media to "fill the place" with "cheap door tickets".
Another said they decided against buying tickets as it would cost his family "more than a holiday" when travel and accommodation for one night was factored in.
Organisers said a family of four could attend the event for £30.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she expected attendances to increase as the championships continued.
"It is true that over the past few days we haven't sold out the stadiums but we are seeing those numbers rising steadily," she said.
"We have some amazing events coming up, the men's 100m final, people like Keely Hodgkinson competing and I think you will see that really rise in the next few days."
She added she thought organisers have "pretty good job here" over ticket prices with "half of all the tickets for the events here in Birmingham are under £30".
A Birmingham 2026 spokesperson expressed delight at the ticket s...
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