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Rio 2016 dubbed the stay at home Olympics
Fri, 5th Aug 2016
FYI, this story is more than a year old

It's the day before the grand opening of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, so why do 1.3 million tickets still remain unsold?

Could technology be to blame for this shocking lack in ticket sales, or does it all boil down to an inane fear of the Zika Virus?

My money's on the tech.

Social media, a number of new technologies and the extreme ease of accessibility to live content are all key factors.

A total of 11.5 million people currently follow the official Olympics page on Facebook - an efficient and free way to follow the games. Event organisers will likely find unsold ticket buyers amidst those numbers.

Also, with social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, live Olympic content is only a click away. So why bother forking out for flights, accommodation and event tickets.

Research from Adobe Marketing Cloud supports this, with statistics pointing to Rio being the most social Olympics ever.

Periscope and Vine are in on the games too, with Periscope hosting a channel solely dedicated to Olympics-related content. Vine will also feature Olympics-related content in the Explore section on Vine's mobile apps.

Samsung's betting that the couch will be the best place to watch the Olympics, with its VR headset keeping home-stayers in on the action. According to reports, subscribers of a number of global production houses will have access to hours upon hours of VR content to stream.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also just announced the launch date for its new media destination, the Olympic Channel, where fans can experience the power of sport and the Olympic Movement all year round.

From Sunday the 21st of August, the Olympic Channel platform will be available worldwide via a mobile app for Android and iOS devices.

Why fly away, when you can sit back, relax and tune in; here's to you technology.