Olympic venues have some wildly obstructed views and fans aren't happy
Attending any Olympic event should be a dream come true, but for some at Milano Cortina 2026, it’s been anything but.
Much was made about the arena in Milan coming together at an unusually slow pace, and though they were able to get it ready in time, there are some seats in the building that are far less than ideal for fans.
One fan, who likely thought he hit the lottery with a front-row seat for some men’s hockey action between Canada and Czechia, shared just how poor his view was.
I was wondering how my ticket in row 1 could possibly be “obstructed view” pic.twitter.com/8Lwhy4gdF1
— Tim Kalinowski (@TimmyKal12) February 12, 2026
“I was wondering how my ticket in row 1 could possibly be ‘obstructed view,'” the fan wrote.
The hockey venue has been far from the only building with obstructed views for fans, either.
Another fan who was in Milan to watch figure skating shared that she paid €280 (C$452.70) for a ticket. Despite the hefty price, it was a random seat assignment, and she was forced to watch from a part of the arena that made it impossible to view nearly the whole sheet of ice.
Visibility from my seat in Assago for figure skating team final. Paid €280. Seat choice not available. No heads up on chances of NO visibility . Random seat assignment. Paid just as much as the people in front of me. Please make me go viral. I want to cry. pic.twitter.com/hlVRrc1GXN
— Eleonora ⛸️ (@Eleonorad) February 8, 2026
“No heads up on chances of NO visibility,” she wrote. “Random seat assignment. Paid just as much as the people in front of me. Please make me go viral. I want to cry.”
Another fan in attendance to watch figure skating hopped on Reddit to share their view, which, while not as obstructed as the image above, was still far less than desirable. They too complained about the random seating assignment.
“This was my view in Row 2, Category C at the figure skating team event today,” the individual explained. “Row 1 is even worse.”
“I paid 280 euros for this seat when they first released the tickets, and you could only choose your category, not your specific seat. It looks like [rows] 1 and 2 in all categories have the same problem because they have the same bars, but I can’t be sure.”