We have hit a major milestone having just celebrated the 100 Days To Go, we are now just 14 weeks away from the Opening Ceremony of PyeongChang 2018! And, excitingly, there were a number of major announcements this week. While you are reading them below — I will be in the air on my way to South Korea where I will check in with you on everything I see! Meanwhile…
Kellogg’s #GetMeStarted campaign shares Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls everyday inspirations…
Meet the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic hopefuls who will make up Team Kellogg’s™ 2018. October 30th. Kellogg kicked off their #GetMeStarted campaign for the Winter Games by announcing their roster of Nathan Chen, Kelly Clark, Meghan Duggan and Mike Schultz for PyeongChang 2018. Through the campaign, these athletes will share their what inspires them each day. Check out the announcement and their launch video here. Also, keep you eyes out for those specially marked packages of Kellogg’s Special K, Corn Flakes, & Frosted Flakes featuring these athletes. One or more of these Olympic-collectibles may even make an appearance with me in South Korea next week.
Meet the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic hopefuls who will make up Team Kellogg’s™ 2018
Bounty partners with Lindsey Vonn to share how she’s preparing to the the quickest of the quick on the slopes…
Bounty Teams Up with Olympic Gold Medalist Lindsey Vonn for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. November 1st. Matching up Vonn’s quickness with Bounty known as the Quicker Picker Upper is a natural match for the partnership. In the lead up to the games, Bounty will share an inside look on how Lindsey prepares and focuses her training on speed. Read more here: http://bit.ly/2io4DmW
Bounty Teams Up with Olympic Gold Medalist Lindsey Vonn for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018
United announces their roster plus a unique customer opportunity to attend the Olympic Games…
United Airlines Announces Lineup of Team USA Athletes for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2018. November 1st. The official airline of the United States Olympic Team for over 40 years, United announced their roster of Tean USA athletes that include Gus Kenworthy, Jamie Anderson, J.R. Celski, Erin Hamlin, Nathan Chen, and Nikko Landeros. In addition, United is offering an exclusive package for auction that includes round-trip airfare for two, accommodations, and five events. Read about it all here: http://prn.to/2zcKMkp
Intel launching 5G network for fans at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games…
Intel 5G platform to power 2018 Winter Olympics network. October 31. Intel is providing their 5G trial platform to mobile operator Korea Telecom (KT) for the upcoming Olympic games. This will provide gigabit speeds over wireless broadband giving spectators a unique opportunity to experience and share the Winter Games like never before. Read all the details here: https://t.co/ajTSnh0R8I
And now the other news…
PyeongChang 2018 ticket designs revealed, box offices open early…
Designs for PyeongChang 2018 tickets unveiled; offline sales to commence in Nov. October 29th. The ticket designs for the upcoming games have been released and they have some new technology with a beautiful design. You’ll see snowflakes inspired by the Korean alphabet and each sport is represented. Every ticket has a hologram, the name of the purchaser and other security features to reduce the risk of counterfeiting (and hopefully scalping). In addition, it was announced that ticket box offices would open on November 1st, 5 days earlier than the planned November 6th opening. Read all the details here: http://bit.ly/2yTHwL1
Designs for PyeongChang 2018 tickets unveiled
Team USA kicks off 100-days before the Winter Games in New York City’s Times Square
The Best Photos From Team USA’s 100 Days Out Celebration In New York City. November 2nd. Team USA marked the 100-days until the Winter Games milestone by popping up in New York City’s Times Square featuring Olympic and Paralympic athletes, sports demonstrations, and special sponsor stations. This was after Team USA showed up on NBC’s Today Show wearing their Closing Ceremony uniforms. For all the details and pictures, go here: http://go.teamusa.org/2zaj4Fm
Team USA’s Winterfest in New York City’s Times Square
5 “things” about the Olympics…
Many different articles across outlets came out with their top 5 lists. Here are a few of my favorites:
- 5 Questions for PyeongChang
- 5 Things to Know About PyeongChang Winter Olympics Next Year
- 5 Things to Know About the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics
Latest Road to PyeongChang bits and bytes for fans who are planning or hoping to attend:
- PyeongChang 2018 Fan-to-Fan Resale Site Opens Up! The Fan-to-Fan resale site is now open on the PyeongChang 2018 ticketing website. This is an official, safe and secure site for fans to sell tickets they cannot use and buy the ones they want. At first glance, it looks like there is still great inventory and seating available. Here you can even still find a set of 3rd row tickets for the Opening Ceremony.
- I’ll get to the bottom of it! No major changes in inventory this week. Many fans are wondering where all these hotel rooms are given recent revelations that 90% of hotels in the Olympic cities do not have any bookings, even though additional hotels are starting to pop-up on Booking.com. More to come next week when I am there. Rephrased and shortened some
- Flight prices remain flat and relatively cheap to get you to South Korea: Flights remain surprisingly inexpensive. Round-trip decreased to $595 from Los Angeles to Seoul, South Korea on Hong Kong Airlines departing February 6th and returning February 16th, enough time to see the Opening Ceremonies and several marquee events. NOTE: Last week, prices were $615.
- PyeongChang 2018 Ticket Site Watch: 90% of events are available for immediate purchase and you have your choice of pick-up, print-at-home, and mobile ticketing. The remaining 10% still have tickets available, but are in a “preparing for sale” state and will likely be available in the near future. Tickets can now be purchased at Box Office locations.
- Authorized Ticket Resellers Watch: With the news a few weeks back on the PyeongChang 2018 ticketing site, the focus for Authorized Resellers will likely shift to focus only on packages inclusive of hotel rooms, hospitality, and tickets. The reason? The PyeongChang 2018 offers lower prices and more options for delivery of tickets. I will continue to track ticket availability through ATRs which remains largely unchanged with most events having available inventory from both Cosport (USA) and Dertour (Germany/EU).
Ken is the Chief Operating Officer at InviteManager. He has been featured in the International Business Times, MSN, Yahoo Sports, ThePostGame, USA Today and ESPN. For more information, you can follow Ken’s blog, connect via Twitter or email him at kenh@invitemanager.com.