Commonwealth Games tickets go on sale for Glaswegians

The first batch of tickets for the Commonwealth Games in 2026 have gone on sale.

People living within Glasgow postcode areas who registered in advance had the first opportunity to land the briefs from noon.

A second sale will then follow on Friday, for people living throughout Scotland, before a third and final pre sale begins on 27 October, covering anyone in the rest of the world who registered in advance. A general sale then follows on 30 October.

Glasgow stepped in to host the Games at the last minute after previous host Victoria, in Australia, withdrew due to concerns over the cost.

More than 3,000 athletes from 74 nations and territories will compete across four venues in a scaled down sporting programme next summer, comprising 10 sports and six para sports.

Ticket prices will start at £26 for medal sessions and £17 for non-medal sessions, although costs vary depending on the sport. About 500,000 tickets will be available.

The pre-sale for people with G postcodes will run until 09:00 on Friday. The Scotland wide pre-sale will then begin at noon the same day, and continue until 09:00 Monday.

George Black, chairman of Glasgow 2026, said the event would let locals witness world-class athletes in front of them.

He said: “We know demand will be unprecedented, which is why we are announcing our pre-sales for Glasgow and Scotland, giving local communities priority access to grab a front-row seat and be at the heart of the action.

“We know the crowd in Scotland will create an electric atmosphere and we can’t wait for everybody to be part of the games in Glasgow next summer.”

The games will run from 23 July until 2 August next year and will take place across four venues – Scotstoun Stadium, the Scottish Event Campus (SEC), the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome and Arena and Tollcross International Swimming Centre.

After an opening ceremony on 23 July, sporting action will begin the following day, with 14 medals awarded.

The first will be awarded in para powerlifting in the SEC Armadillo, marking the first time a para sport has opened the medal tally at a Commonwealth Games.

Organisers have previously stated the Games will come at no cost to the public purse, with funding coming from compensation paid to the Commonwealth Games Federation after the Australians pulled out.

Glasgow previously hosted the Games in 2014 but organisers have struggled with hosting issues since then.

Durban was supposed to be the first city in Africa to stage the Games in 2022, but were stripped of hosting rights in 2017 after running into money troubles. It was held in Birmingham instead.

Victoria then dropped out in July 2023 after the projected cost for the event became “well and truly too much” for the state to bear, while other possible hosts such as Malaysia and Singapore declined to step in.