2028 LA Summer Olympics ticket lottery upsets fans with long wait

LOS ANGELES — Ticket registration for the 2028 LA Summer Olympics kicked off Wednesday, with a few hiccups and some fans complaining that they were stuck in an “infinite loop of waiting.”

Some users reported being redirected to the virtual waiting room multiple times instead of being taken to the portal to sign up for the ticket draw right after the registration went live at 7 a.m. PT.

Jim Carter, an Angeleno, took to X, to describe the “s–t show.”

“Infinite loop of waiting > click register > wait in the queue again,” he wrote. “How is this even a thing in 2026”.

“The #LA28 registration completely sucks,” another wrote, adding that she had to start over after waiting in the digital line for 30 minutes.

She said she was then redirected back to the waiting room, where she waited another 40 minutes before finally reaching the registration page — only to encounter a server error.

“They were clearly not prepared for the traffic,” she wrote.

These wait times were expected, as the organizing committee plans to release a record 14 million tickets for the Olympic and Paralympic Games — surpassing the 12 million sold at the Paris Olympics.

The teething problems did appear to be short-lived. Multiple staffers at The Post were able to successfully register for the draw after waiting anywhere from 40 to 90 minutes — and the wait times reduced dramatically by late morning Wednesday.

Registration is also a marathon, not a sprint. It’s open through March 18, and everyone who pre-registered will be entered into a lottery for a chance to buy tickets.

And fans who made it through said the wait was “worth it.”

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a global event right here in our own backyard,” Meghan Gallagher, an L.A. resident, told the Post. “I can’t wait to experience it and be part of something this big.”

Gallagher said she logged on shortly after ticket registration went live and waited more than two hours, including over an hour in the virtual queue. At one point, she encountered an error message after entering the emailed code but said the system held her place when she logged back in.

The first opportunity to purchase tickets will come during the Locals Presale for residents of Southern California.

That runs from April 2 to April 6, 2026.

The first worldwide ticket drop is scheduled for April 9 through April 19.