Birmingham Commonwealth Games: Ticket ballot opens for residents

Alexander Stadium will be among venues hosting events during Birmingham 2022

People in the West Midlands can enter a ballot for tickets for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The Games will take place across the region from 28 July to 8 August next year.

More than a million tickets are available, with ticket prices starting from £8 for under-16s and from £15 for adults.

Tickets will also be available through the main ballot in September, which will be open to everyone in the UK.

In total, 286 sessions will take place, involving 19 sports and eight para-sports.

There will be venues hosting events in Birmingham, Sandwell, Solihull, Leamington Spa, Coventry, Wolverhampton, and Cannock Chase.

The court has been designed by Team England basketball player Kofi Josephs and local graffiti artist Zuke

The local ballot is open to people living Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire.

People can check their eligibility and register on the Games website.

To coincide with the ballot opening, Birmingham 2022 also unveiled a newly-refurbished basketball court in Summerfield Park in Ladywood, Birmingham, designed by Team England basketball player Kofi Josephs and local graffiti artist Zuke.

It is part of a wider plan to ensure the event leaves a lasting legacy across the West Midlands, it said.

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Matt Kidson, director of sport for Birmingham 2022, said: "Birmingham 2022 is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for residents of the West Midlands, with the Games being held, essentially, in their backyard."

He said organisers wanted to make sure everyone who lives locally had a "chance to experience the Games, through volunteering, spectating, or soaking up the festival atmosphere".

Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands, added the Games would show off "the best of Birmingham".