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Eddie Keogh / Reuters file
A brand of beer is seen on a pump at the Railway Tavern pub in east London Feb. 2, 2012. Built around 1825, the pub is across the road from the athlete's village. The landlady for the past 40 years Jan Dooner said: "I'm hoping for some good business during the Games, whether they want to celebrate or drown their sorrows."
Spectators hoping to enjoy the London 2012 Olympic Games with a cool brew in hand will have to shell out the equivalent of about $11 for a pint of beer, according to organizers.
London Olympics organizers announced Wednesday they expected to serve 14 million meals during the games, calling it "the largest peace time catering operation in the world."
"We have gone to great lengths to find top quality, tasty food that celebrates the best of Britain," said Paul Deighton, chief executive of organizing committee LOCOG.
"We believe that our prices are more than comparable to those found at other major sporting events, which because of their temporary nature are often more expensive than the high street."
A bottle of water will cost 1.60 pounds ($2.50) and a bottle of Coke will sell for 2.30 pounds ($3.60). A plate of fish and chips will go for 8 pounds ($12.50).
Many were outraged by the prices, and particularly the cost of beer, British newspaper The Telegraph reported.
An 11-ounce bottle of Heineken lager will cost 4.20 pounds or $6.50, which makes the equivalent price of a pint 7.23 pounds or $11. That's more than double the national average price of 3.17 pounds for a pint of beer in the UK, The Telegraph said.
Organizers said food and drink for a family of four should run under 40 pounds ($62).
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
All english beer is rot-gut swill.
Ever tried any?
What? English beer is the best.
Only the colonies have the best. Leave it to the english to want to rape/rake you over a beer, what has this world come to. I would rather die of thurst.
Everybody, everwhere is after the quick buck. No wonder many Countries are in the condition they are in.
Wait until you pay the landing fees and CO2 Tax in the UK &/or EU...
Then you will have a real reason to complain...
AC,
It won't cost me a dime! I wouldn't go there or anywhere off the North American Continent if you gave me the tickets as a gift, you can include Mexico on my list as well. I can watch what events I want on TV and if they ever decide to charge for that I can very easily get rid of my dish as well.
When the crying starts because they supposedly aren't making money enough, just keep this story to show the big money dudes your reasoning!
A 12oz beer at Yankee Stadium is$9.50 about .79 cents per oz
London Olympics 16oz $11.00 about 69 cents per oz.
Take that Harry M. Stevens!
A plate of fish and chips costing $12.50? Most English-style pubs in the U.S. charge that much everyday for fish and chips, without the obvious explanation of an Olympics going on nearby or an unfavorable currency exchange rate. Of course, that's probably more a function of greedy pricing by American pub owners who know that Americans go to English-style pubs to eat fish and chips, so why not jack up the price. The profit margin on that simple, fried food is outrageous.
Nice to know you're paying Olympics prices next time you're at your local pub in Anytown USA.
Ever been to a baseball or football game? It's more expensive for beer there than the Olympics.
Who would go and pay those kind of prices.....................?????
Not me, I like beer but those prices would sure keep me away!
London Olympics is a joke. Dow Chemicals is the sponsor!
Whatever the British do: they play more politics, do lots of shows, strip as much as possible and declare that they have been fair, just and won!
A family of four eats for 40 Quid? Good luck finding that. I'm sure that the 2 course for a tenner joints will have jacked up their price to 20, and just like anywhere else, cokes all around will add another tenner to the ticket.
My prediction is that a family of for eats for 100 on any sit down mean. Take away curry for four will cost about 40.
Still, we Yanks can hardly bitch. You pay exactly the same for beer and dogs at any stadium.
Bankers, Polititians, Senators, Judges, Stock Brokers, you know the people who stole all the money?
I protest......thats why we americans broke (fought our way) away from the british rule "TAXATION WITHOUT REPERSENTION" american history over unfair taxes. The Tea baggers party in boston, now they're still trying to screw us on over priced beer..........The OLD HAG demands her share.
i fine u rude and whom do u mean the OLD HAG ? if u dont like don't go
I am pretty sure he is talking about the Old Hag Windbag Queen, Americans will not allow her to rule our Continent we will never bow to her royal assets.
What has this to do with the Queen?
Idiots
Olympics has been reduced to joke with more politics and marketing.
In these bad times due to greedy manipulating rulers, who will attend another greedy joke in the name of sports: Olympics?
I'm not gonna watch the olympics because they waste their airtime with a nobody named Bob Costas. He makes me want to puke each and every time I hear his voice let alone look at him. I want to see the events, not just a few highlights and then back to BOB.
The Olympic elitists have ruled, serfs. Now hop into line, cough up them quid, and quit yer complainin'.
What you Brits need is a free membership to the E.U. You can be cuddled 24/7 by Brussels; always holdin' your hand and telling you whats good for ya'.
They may not let you drink a pint, though. Not good for ya'.
Herald - the UK already belongs to the EU (1973). They were smart enough to not join the EMU and voted that down - that's why the prices above are in pounds and not euros.
Seriously? That's not much more than a pint of beer in a stadium in the US. We're not talking about Bud or Miller lite beer. We pay3 or 4 dollars for a bottled water in some stadiums here. They are charging $2.50. So they are charging a bit more for beer, it's the Olympics. It costs alot of money to put this gig together. If you don't like the prices.... drink as much as you can before you go.
You're right Houstonite - just looked it up and a 16 ounce (pint) of a Beer of the World costs $12 at Yankee Stadium so the pricing is right in line with the US.
Houstonite-
Exactly right. Beer and food at sporting events costs more. Especially when the sporting event only happens every four years and contains the most elite athletes from around the world.
Soo true... We paid the outrageous amount of $5.25 for a bottle of water just last week at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Bottled beers were $8 (Bud, Bud Light, etc.) and "premium" beer was $9 a pint. The Olympics pricing sounds reasonable to me.
Houstonite- Agreed. I was expecting it to cost way more! Stadiums and amusement parks charge almost the same here on a regular basis.
Hmmm....getting used to high prices here in the U.S. seems everybody has some reason to "Jack-up" the price. Look at the high price of pop at an event or Movie Theater I was stunned. Let the prices go up...I hope they out price themselves maybe you'll cut down on your beer intake....I did. .... theres another good idea drink your fill at home or your hotel before going to the event have your friends walk you in and place you in your seat! (near the restrooms)
freedom-supporter, you are a funny guy. let's be sure to dislike everyone who isn't us -- regardless of what incredible and undeserved friends the brits have been to the americans for decades. and, your reference to the "tea baggers" in boston is hilarious! i hope you can find yourself one of these days. how much do you think a beer in yankee stadium costs?
Its all about $$$$$$....that's why when a country is awarded the games they are happy as hell.
That's still cheaper than Fenway park in Boston.
2 watered down drafts and 2 mediocre dogs runs about 30 dollars.
Besides everything in the whole city of London has been brutally expensive for a long time now.
True -- largely because the federal government our dollar has been virtually worthless for about eight or nine years in the global economy -- which we created, then quit, because we couldnt compete in it..
I am confused.....at the 2012 Super Bowl they were charging $7 for a bottle of beer....at the Vegas clubs they charge around $10 for a bottle beer at some. Yes it is a price I would never pay and in general I think the UK is a rip off to their people, but the price does not suprise me. Convert the prices above to a pint.......
Opium prices have been relatively stable for 10,000 years!
Drinking beer at the London Olympics will cost you!!!
WHAT, no free beer?????
Well I am staying home then !!!
They should protest by dumping the beer into the English Channel.
Does anyone have any friends going to the London Olympics from America that aren't immediate family of a athlete? They learned to price the beer from how the Sports owners of US teams price all their drinks, cokes included.
Just went to Vegas, prices were higher there
Folks who sit on their fat butts to WATCH "sports" shouldn't complain. They're certainly not going to live as long as those who choose to be active rather than watch others do something. Shorter life, faster spending - it all makes sense.
On the other hand, the Olympics is historically an event where those who participate do it for the love of sport and competition. They were not paid. Here we have an economic ecosystem acting as a large parasite on these participants and using their performance to build an excuse for taking others to the cleaners. London is a horrendously expensive place to visit in the first place. Imagine the costs circling around Olympic events this Summer. Athenians and Spartans would be ashamed. Mitt Romney would be impressed.
Of course, nobody will be allowed to bring even so much as a sandwich with them into the games, either. I bet even the hookers (for what they're worth in London) will even charge more with the O-lympics in town. You can probably get off cheaper to pay the satellite companies for the live, full time coverage, and get a better meal and good beer in your living room at home, anyway.
Why even go to these events they have become so huge they're awful even to watch on tv?
The biggest attraction this year is Yoga give me a break let me see a yoga master run or swim or perform in a manner that is a true feat then we can see but you people are idiots?
Oh and tell our Queen Americans will not bow to her royal assets.
Have you ever been to NYC??? Or a sporting event in NYC? Beers in Madison Square Garden for the Ranger's game were $9.50 for a draft of Miller Lite.
Hell, you can pay $7.50 for a 8 0z cup of "Bud" swill at a Mariners game in Seattle.
Mark off the trip to the Olympics, Martha.
Ever drink in Switzerland? Or eat, or much of anything else?
Food and drink is always going to be high at the Olympics...no matter where it is. Don't go...it's that simple!