Alibaba to run Olympic ticketing for Beijing Winter Games, likely beyond

FILE – Attendees pass by an Alibaba.com display at CES 2019 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 8, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. David Becker/Getty Images/AFP

LAUSANNE, Switzerland— The IOC says top-tier sponsor Alibaba will run ticketing services for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, putting the Chinese online retail giant in line to do the same for future hosts Paris and Los Angeles.

The International Olympic Committee says the Beijing contract to sell tickets worldwide “will harness Alibaba’s technological and data expertise.”

It also shapes as a trial to establish the Chinese firm as ticket provider during a sponsorship which initially runs through the 2024 Paris and 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games.

The IOC says it wants “a single provider … over several Games editions” to cut costs and be simpler than each games organizing committee in turn running its own system.

The Olympic body notes that Alibaba owns Damai “one of China’s largest ticketing platforms.”