More than half of free tickets unused at Rio read more at here http://www.spinonews.com/index.php/component/k2/item/645

Empty seats at most venues have been a problem from the start with many Brazilians staying away from the Olympics and organizers failing to solve the problem on time.

Rio Games spokesman Mario Andrada said 280,000 tickets were given away to school children as part of a social project to get them to attend sports that are less popular in Brazil, but half of those were never used.

More than half of the almost 300,000 tickets given away to school children for the Rio Olympics went unused, organizers said on Thursday, after struggling with many empty venues throughout the Games.

A total of about 6.1 million tickets were issued for the event.

While organizers have said they exceeded their financial target from ticket sales, the low turnout, even at the athletics events, has been one of several major headaches they encountered at the Olympics, along with security, transportation and venue problems.

Sales for the Paralympics are even worse at just 12 percent of tickets sold, with the mayor of Rio unable to buy a chunk of tickets as planned due to electoral regulations.